Rescued
by clairlz
Summary: An old "friend" comes back for revenge.
1. Chapter 1

**Moonlight doesn't belong to me It's just a place I go to play. **

**I originally posted this and pulled it down quite a while back so some of you may have already read it. I pulled it down in part because the last story in the series was a mess. It was also inappropriate for this site. I chopped the graphic sex, fixed the spelling, as much grammar as I'm able, added a bit of foreshadowing here and there and fixed the last story. **

***If you are a stone-cold Mick/Beth fan and only Mick/Beth fan read this first story and no farther. **

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. **

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She sits on the floor in the dark. She's oblivious to her ripped clothing, to the bruising up and down her body, to the blood trickling down her neck. She's wedged into a corner not knowing what to do. She's too scared to move. She doesn't know how long it's been since the music started and the lights went out. Moonlight spills in from the far bank of windows. Even with that bit of light she can't see much, shapes and shadows in the darkness. She strains her eyes until they water but she knows the killers can be very still and very patient. Nothing is moving... yet. She thinks she hears knocking above the music. She doesn't move, doesn't make a sound. She sits staring into the darkness, watching, waiting.

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Josef stares out the window of his private jet. Distracted by worry, he doesn't see the stars twinkling in the darkness. He glances at his watch and growls in frustration. He finished his business in New York a few days earlier than expected. He wanted to spend the rest of his trip visiting with Sarah, but he has a bad feeling. Josef has managed to live to be four hundred plus years because he listens to his instincts. Rarely do they let him down, and right now they're screaming at him that something has happened to Mick and Beth.

Mick is a lot of things, he's the unofficial enforcer for Josef's territory. He's Josef's annoying conscience, and he's a damn good Private Investigator. Most of all Mick is the closest thing Josef's ever going to have to a brother. Back in the 80's a blond four-year-old forced Mick to turn a corner. While he's never going to be the human, he started out to be. Mick is the moral, solid, good citizen Josef always knew was under the surface.

Even with Josef out of town, Mick is smart enough to tag one of Josef's people if he needs backup. _So, where the Fuck is, he?_ Four days ago, Josef called Mick to see if anything was on the radar. Usually he doesn't bother calling, but he's been gone longer than usual on this trip and wanted to touch base. There was no answer on Mick's personal or business lines, so Josef left a message. No big deal, but that was four days ago, and no matter how many messages Josef left, Mick hasn't returned any calls. After two days of not hearing from Mick he called Beth. When she didn't return his calls, he began to get more than a little worried. He has a contact at Buzzwire. All he could tell Josef is she'd taken some time off to deal with Josh's death. Josef hopes that Beth and Mick took that last step and went somewhere to work off the sexual tension. It emanates from them like smog. Since Josh hasn't been dead long, he's sure that's not happening.

Tonight, before he left his New York office to go see Sarah he called his office in L.A to talk to his head of security. He sent Charlie to Mick's apartment to see if anyone was home. Charlie Sanderson is Josef's head of security for his home. He reported back that Mick's Mercedes and Beth's Prius are both parked in the garage at Mick's apartment. Charlie knocked on the apartment door but there wasn't any answer. He tried to sense if anyone is inside but it's tough through Mick's steel door. He thought he heard music and under it a heartbeat, but something isn't right. He thinks the heartbeat belongs to a human female. If that's the case her vitals are way off, her heartbeat and pulse are far too rapid. He does sense the lingering smell of vampires in the hallway and no, not Mick. He also smells blood, lots of it and there are some bloody footprints in the hallway outside Mick's door. Hearing that, Josef decided he better cut his last few days in New York short. He needs to find out what the hell is going on with Mick.

He glances at his watch again and sees that he's a half hour out of LAX. He'd better have damage control on hand, he sighs and taps his phone to call his Cleaner. Victoria Beck, a tall beautiful blond woman who he's sure started out in those old days of the Viking raiders. She and her team help keep the vampires hidden by making sure some of their problems disappear. Victoria knows where all the bodies are buried, literally and figuratively. She and Mick run in some of the same circles. Mick puts down rogues and villains and Victoria cleans up the messes. "Victoria, have you seen Mick lately?"

"No, hold on a minute." She turns and taps the mic at her throat. "Anyone seen St. John lately?" She listens for a minute and goes back to Josef. "None of my people have come across him either."

"Alright, I need you to go to his place. I have a hunch he's run into trouble."

She scowls, she's fond of the young vampire. "Well shit. Any idea what kind of trouble?"

"No, but Charlie says there are bloody footprints in the hallway outside his apartment. I'm in the air, about to touch down at LAX. I've got Charlie there watching to see if anyone shows up. He says he hears a human heartbeat. I'm guessing it belongs to Beth, Mick's human, and he smells blood. Wait for me, I'll get you inside. With the security system he has on that door, it would take you longer to get in that it would to wait for me. I shouldn't be long."

Victoria glances at her watch. "We're not that far away. We'll wait for you there."

Josef hopes like hell that Mick and Beth are off swapping body fluids and whoever is in Mick's apartment isn't Beth.

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From where she's sitting, she can see the door as it opens. Light spills in from the hallway but not enough for her to see who it is. In this light, all she can see is a vague outline of a man. She knows it's not Mick... not Mick. They've come back. Her heart starts to pound even faster. _Can I kill another one?_ She picks up the stake in one hand and the gun in the other.

Josef cautiously walks through the door. The lights are all off, but the stereo is on full blast. He can smell blood, vampire, and Beth. Through the dim moonlight, he spots her in the corner on the floor. He needs to get that damn stereo turned off. He can sense her fear. If she sees him, maybe she will know that she is safe. He flips a couple of light switches and nothing happens. _Damn._

He goes back out into the hallway to get away from the noise of the stereo. "Victoria, can one of your guys get the lights up and get that damn stereo turned off? Charlie, you search for Mick, while I see to Beth."

Victoria points at a couple of her people and off they go.

She sees more of them slip into the room. They don't think she can see them, but she can. She knows by the way they move they are vampires. Too fast... too smooth... too graceful... too dangerous.

Josef can smell vampire and human blood and it's a day or so old. Not good. He wishes they would hurry up and get the lights on so Beth can see him. He doesn't want to approach her in the state she is in. Even with the stereo blasting, he can hear the erratic beat of her heart. Her breathing sounds like she is going to hyperventilate.

Josef tries to watch her closely. He can see something in her hand down by the floor, but it's hidden under her leg and he's not sure what it is. He suspects it is a stake, he hopes that's all it is. He would not be the first vampire she has staked. Then he sees something in the other hand as she brings it up. Josef dives for cover before the gun goes off. He hopes Victoria and her people are clear. He sighs in relief when he hears a dead click and the gun goes flying at him. _Last shot. _

Someone finally gets the stereo turned off. He wonders how long she's been in the dark with that noise. Josef crouches down and approaches her. "Beth?" No answer. "Beth? Come on, it's Josef." He's inching closer to her, ready in case she doesn't recognize him. Closer... closer. "Beth, come on. Look at me. It's Josef." He's getting close. He can sense that she is about to spring. Every muscle in her body is taut. Her heartbeat is pounding. He tries one more time. He's afraid he could hurt her if he needs to defend himself. "Beth? It's Josef. Can you look at me?"

Josef hears a pop and the lights come on. Beth's hand is in the air with a stake pointed at his chest. She sees him and drops the stake. "Josef?" He nods and holds out his arms to her. She lunges into his arms. He goes from a crouch to a sitting position on the floor with a thump, the little blond weeping in his arms. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry," she repeats over and over. He tries to hold her out from him to assess the damage done to her. Every time he tries to move her, she digs herself into him even tighter. He puts his arm under her bottom and uses his vampire strength to stand up with Beth clinging to him.

"Everybody all right?" Victoria nods and Josef continues. "Do you have anything we can give her to calm her down or better yet, knock her out?"

"Of course." Victoria goes over to one of the black bags on the floor. She turns her back so Beth can't see what she's doing, and she fills the syringe. She might as well not bother since Beth has her head buried in Josef's shoulder. Victoria uses her speed to quickly move to Beth and put the needle in her arm.

"Hold on to her for a minute or so, and she'll be out." Josef can feel Beth relax against him and her breathing even out. He goes over to the couch and lays her down. He can see that she has blood smeared across her neck and into her hair. Cleaning her up will have to wait. He looks at her neck, and there are two sets of fang marks. He leans over and smells her to see if he can identify the vampires involved. It is all too much of a jumble, too many different scents to make an identification. He can smell Mick, but that is always there in the background. The scent isn't strong enough to say that Mick is the one that left either of the bite marks. If it wasn't Mick, it could explain her fear. Beth might finally understand that the Mick-type vampire is far and few between. Josef doesn't sense that there is anything physically wrong with Beth. He covers her with a blanket and joins the others to look for signs of Mick.

One of Victoria's crew yells. "I've got an unknown dead vamp in the kitchen." They enter the kitchen and find a youngish looking, which doesn't say much, vamp dead on the floor. He's got a stake in his chest and a bullet hole right between the eyes. Josef smells him. The decay isn't strong. He thinks the vamp is 60 years old. He survey's the kitchen. Besides the vamp's blood, there is Mick's retail blood spattered across the kitchen. Victoria picks a couple of the empty bags with her fingertips. "So, none of this blood came out of St. John or the human?"

Josef nods his agreement.

Charlie comes running down the stairs. "Boss, there isn't anyone upstairs or up on the parapet. I searched all the rooms and didn't find any bodies. No one's in Mr. St. John's freezer."

Josef starts to pace, even in the small kitchen area. "Victoria put this place back together. I doubt we're going to find out what happened until I can get a coherent answer out of Beth. See if you can ID the dead punk. Send me the bill but get this place back in shape. I'll take her with me. How long will the drugs last? I don't want her waking up and freaking out in the car."

"If I give her another dose now, she'll be down for a couple hours. Depends on how hard she's fighting the drugs."

Josef nods. "Then do it. That will give me enough time to arrange to keep her safe. I'll have someone look at her and see if there is any lasting damage."

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Josef picks up Beth and cradles her in his arms. "Hey, I found this. Must be hers." Victoria hands Josef Beth's overstuffed bag. "She'll feel better when she wakes up and has this available."

Josef wonders what it is with females, human or vamp, and purses. Then he remembers her laptop. "You didn't see a laptop lying around, here did you? She sometimes has it with her."

A voice comes from the kitchen, "There was a smashed one in the office."

Josef turns with Beth in his arms "Charlie put it in a bag and bring it down to the car. It might be another clue, if she doesn't have any answers. Then you can head back to the house." Charlie nods and follows Josef's orders.

Josef carries Beth to the car. He walks to the elevator and hopes like hell that the dead vamp is the only one involved in this mess. Beth is a fighter, but he can't imagine her still being alive if there is more than the one vampire involved in her attack. If there is more than the one, he's worried that whoever it is, could be more than Mick can handle. What would be so bad that it would cause Mick to abandon her and leave her in this situation? She stirs in his arms. He belts her into the Porsche and heads for home. He thinks he better find out who is at the house and have Robert prepare for Beth. It isn't often he has a human in the house who is off limits to everyone. This one will always belong to Mick, no matter if the worst has happened or not.

Robert is Josef's Majordomo. He's been in Josef's service for over two hundred years. Robert Addington was an accountant for a vampire solicitor in London. The lawyer was cheating not only vampires, but humans. Robert was afraid the human authorities would catch up to him and cause trouble for them all. The European vampire community, even to this day has no central authority, it's all fragmented. At that time London had no standing master. There was no vampire strong enough to take care of the problem, until Josef came to the city. Robert approached Josef and explained the problem. Josef isn't one to meddle in the local vampire politics, in this case though he knows he can't turn away. It would only take one match, let alone the torch and pitchfork mob to burn most of London to the ground. London is a big hub for trade, and he needs it in one piece to get his goods shipped in and out of Europe. The idea of humans even getting an inkling of vampires is unthinkable. He pats Robert on the back and tells him he will investigate and try to get the solicitor to stop before it's too late. With little work on Josef's part, he finds Robert is correct. The solicitor is arrogant and not hiding his illegal dealings. Josef determines everyone would be better off if the Solicitor disappeared. He takes care of the problem in short order. In his dealings with Robert, he realizes he is meticulous, smart with a good eye for details. Josef hires him as his assistant. Once the money started rolling Robert took over caring for the current estate. He also oversees Josef's other properties as well.

Josef gets Robert on the phone. "Mick and Beth are in trouble. I can't find Mick anywhere. At least two vampire's attacked Beth. I've had her sedated and I'm bringing her home. Is there anyone on the grounds that might be a problem? Anyone who has trouble with boundaries? I'd hate to have to kill someone for not staying the hell away from a human that doesn't even belong to me."

"Denton." Robert answers bites out. "He might be a problem, no one else that I can think of. You know Mick and Denton hate each other. If you turn your back on him, he would mess with her to spite Mick, other than that, no one. There aren't a lot of visitors here this time of year. It's too hot in California for most of our friends."

"Pick an expensive vamp-friendly hotel and move Denton. Tell him I'll pay for everything. He told me he is going to leave town in a week, anyway. Robert, get him out of there. I'm on my way and I don't want to have to deal with him for long or at all." Denton is a thug Josef tolerates for the little amount of time he is usually in California. He's been useful in the past. Sometimes there are things that Mick would object to doing. Denton is good for those things, but not much else. "Next, I want you to call Dr. Stanton and tell him I have a human that I need him to look at. Tell him I'm not sure exactly what all happened to her. He should bring a female nurse. She may not react well to an unfamiliar male, especially an unfamiliar male vampire." Josef can picture Robert making notes. "Now it's best if we put her in the master bedroom. I don't want her alone. So far, she's reacting to me without freaking out. Got it?"

"I'll take care of it," Robert says and hangs up.

Robert sits in the study for a minute staring at the phone. He's worked for Josef a long time. This little human is the closest he's come to a human friend in 50 years, not since Sarah. Not that Josef has the same intent on this one. He knows Josef well enough to know that there will be blood spilled for this attack. Never mind what will happen if St. John is dead. Neither of them would admit it, but the two have become like brothers. They don't always see eye to eye or understand each other, but Josef and Mick are close.

Robert dials Dr. Stanton and tells him the situation. Stanton knows Josef well enough to drop everything when Josef calls. He will be there as soon as possible. Robert thinks about his choice of hotels for Denton. He determines the Sanguine would suit Denton's needs. He makes the reservations, and then goes to inform Mr. Denton that he is to leave at once.

Robert finds Denton by the pool snacking on one of Josef's girls. Emily does not look pleased, but she would never insult one of Josef's guests. She will be glad when he is gone. He has the touch of a vampire who likes to know they are causing pain. He doesn't let on that he is doing it on purpose, but Emily knows; she's no fool. She's been around a lot of vampires, and she can tell what emotions in the blood they are reaching for. With Josef, it's all about the pleasure. Josef gets off on his food tasting of endorphins. Josef wants the girls to feel as good as he does. Denton gets off on his blood tasting of pain. Emily hates to think what would happen if he wasn't bound by Josef's protection of his girls.

Robert taps Denton on the shoulder. He lets go of Emily and snarls at him. Robert stands with his arm folded waiting for Denton to speak. "What do you want?"

"Josef called. He wants you to move to a hotel. I've made reservations for you at Sanguine. They are holding one of their suites for you. Josef will, of course, pay for this inconvenience." Denton looks at Robert speculatively. What would Josef have going on that would be so important that he would pay for Denton to stay at the Sanguine? Better question is, what is it that Josef doesn't want Denton to see? Impatiently, Robert tells Denton, "There will be a limo here for you in ten minutes. Be ready." Robert has no use for Denton and has never made any bones about it. He hates him almost as much as Mick does. Denton narrows his eyes at Robert and tries to stare him down. Robert laughs and stands there staring right back. Nothing Denton could come up with would intimidate Robert or surprise him. "Go get your stuff and be ready. You don't want to be here when Josef gets back." Robert turns on his heels and walks away. Denton shrugs and tries to figure out who will tell him what is going on after he's left. It can't be one of the household staff or girls; they are all completely loyal to Josef. He will have to think about that. Denton gets up and heads for his room to pack

Josef drives through the night wondering what could have happened. He thinks he smelled at least three other vampires at Mick's and none of them familiar.

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Josef pulls up to the house and Robert immediately opens the door. Josef picks Beth up out of the car and carries her inside. On his way to the stairs, he sees that Dr. Stanton and his nurse are at the bottom of the stairs waiting for them. _Good._ They follow Josef upstairs. He gently deposits Beth on the bed. She's still asleep.

"The doctor starts to examine Beth and turns to Josef. "What did Victoria give Beth to her to knock her out and how much?"

"No idea, but I can find out." Josef calls Victoria. "Tell the doctor what sedative you gave Beth" and he hands the phone to Stanton. He listens for a bit, nodding, and then hands Josef back his phone. She should be out for another half hour at least. I can do a cursory check until she wakes up."

Josef nods. "From what I've observed over the time I've known her, she's not one to go into hysterics. I'm worried something was done to her that was…. intolerable." It's the only word that Josef can think to use. "She recently suffered a loss and I'm not sure she was back from that, before this... whatever… happened."

"If we find that there is evidence that she's been sexually assaulted, we will take care of it when she wakes up."

Josef frowns, "Wouldn't it be better to do that kind of stuff while she's still out?"

"No, not at all. You don't deal with females on this level much do you?"

Josef smiles warily. "I suppose not."

The doctor explains to Josef. "Doing that while she's out, without her permission, would be like a second assault. If that's what's happened to her."

Josef nods. "I guess I didn't want her to have to think about it."

Dr. Stanton looks up at Josef. "I've known you a long time and I've never known you to be this close to a human female." He holds up his hand to stop Josef. "It's your business. If we are going to check her out, I need to know about her recent activity with vampires and humans."

Josef shakes his head. "She's not mine. She's involved with a friend. I don't believe they are intimate on any level, no biting or anything else. The loss she suffered recently was a human boyfriend who died three or four weeks ago. My guess, she hasn't been with anyone since then. I'm pretty positive those marks on her neck and any blood loss are the work of her attackers."

The doctor nods. He and his nurse begin their assessment.

Josef goes over and stands at the window and looks out at the night sky. He wants to be close if she wakes but doesn't want to intrude on the doctor's work.

Stanton finishes his examination. "Josef, we're done."

Josef returns to Beth's bedside. "And?"

Stanton points to Beth's neck. "Other than the wounds on her neck, she has no other injuries and I don't believe she was sexually assaulted."

Although Josef thinks that she may not see it that way. Being bitten by a vampire without permission to Beth may seem as bad as a sexual assault. Since Mick has taught her that he places such a high value on doing such a thing. He shrugs, not sure how she'll feel about the bites.

Josef is brought out of his thoughts as Stanton continues. "We've cleaned the wound area and not much of the blood on her is her own. The fang marks aren't very deep. She must have fought them off. She's been through so much that having Victoria give her drugs to knock her out was a good idea. She's close to exhaustion and she may not wake when the drug wears off. Don't be alarmed if she keeps right on sleeping for several hours. Her body needs rest to heal. Have some food on hand so when she wakes up, she'll want to get cleaned up and eat."

Josef thanks them and they leave.

Josef plants a comfortable overstuffed chair next to the bed where she's resting. He'll be the first thing she sees when she wakes up. It's getting to be morning and he would like to get some sleep before that happens.

He covers her with a couple of blankets on the bed, sits down in the chair and tries to sleep. Instead, he sits and watches Beth sleep. Josef smiles to himself. One of these days she's going to be turned, whether Mick does it or he does. He's sure she'll be ready in a couple years. Mick is fooling himself if he thinks it's going to be any other way. After she passes that awkward fledgling stage, she's going to be a whole lot of fun, Josef is sure of that. If Mick messes things up, he may lose her. Josef thinks he could be persuaded very easily to spend some time with her. He drifts off to sleep with a smile on his face and visions of vampire Beth in his head.

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**Comments are always welcome. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Moonlight doesn't belong to me. I like to come play in their sandbox.**

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Josef sleeps lightly in the chair. He wakes a couple of times and each time he checks on Beth. She seems fine so he goes back to sleep. When twilight rolls around, he calls Robert. "Sit with her until I get back. I need to catch a quick shower and feed. I won't be long, and I don't want her to wake up in a strange place alone. At least she knows you. If she wakes up and starts having trouble, come get me."

Josef grabs some clothes and heads for the shower. He gets out of the shower and is getting his pants on when he hears a scream from the next room. Robert doesn't bother to call Josef. He's sure Josef heard that loud and clear. Josef runs into the room. Robert is standing back from the bed looking worried. Beth is curled up crying in her sleep. Josef goes back into the bathroom grabs his shirt and quickly puts it on as he goes back to check on Beth. He watches her for a minute to make sure she's still asleep. She's having a nightmare.

Josef turns to Robert. "Go get me a bottle and a glass. I'm going to wake her. She's not going to get any rest if she is in that state while she sleeps. She needs to get a shower and eat. If she's up to it I'd like to find out what the hell happened, in case Mick's in trouble."

Robert leaves and Josef sits on the edge of the bed next to Beth. He gently pulls her into his lap. "Hey, Beth come on it's time to wake up," he whispers in her ear. He wants her to wake up, but he doesn't want to scare her. "Hey, it's Josef. Come on wake up. You're having a nightmare."

He's looking down at her and her eyes blink open and he can see she's trying to focus on him. He reaches over and turns the bedside lamp down a notch. "Josef?"

"Yes, I'm here. It's ok. Nobody is going to hurt you. You're safe here with me." She puts her arms around his neck and holds on for dear life. Gently he takes her arms from around his neck and leans her back away from him. She looks down and won't look at him. "Beth?"

"I'm sorry I almost shot you. I'm so sorry." She's still looking down and now he can feel tears dropping on his arm. He feels her shaking. He lets her put her arms back around his neck and he moves to lean back against the headboard. He finds himself rubbing her back and murmuring to her. One of these days he's going to have to figure out how these feelings for her have happened. It's nothing like with Sarah, but to Josef's amazement he is sure that whoever did to her will end up dead. He feels so protective of her. He smiles ruefully; he sees why Mick is so captivated.

As Robert walks in he clears his throat and smiles at Josef. Josef looks over at him and scowls back at him. Robert sets the bottle and glass on the dresser. Josef knows he needs to eat. He has a lot of control, but there is no use making things worse by tempting fate and not eating. Especially if he's going to deal with this blond blood bank. He motions for Robert to pour him a glass and put it on the bedside table. Then he pulls the blanket up over Beth's back and the two of them sit that way for quite some time. Josef sips his glass of blood and rubs Beth's back. He's not sure if she's fallen back to sleep, and he hates to disturb her. He feels her take a long shuddering breath, and she moves away from him so she can see his face. She glances around and squints at the well-appointed décor. She realizes he must have brought her home. "Josef, how did you find me?"

He smiles at her, "Let's not talk about that now. I want you to go right through that door and take a shower." Her eyes dart around wildly. "Listen you can leave the door open and I'll stay here." He smiles at her, "and I won't even peek." She smiles weakly and nods. "Is my bag here somewhere?" He nods and hands it to her. "At least I'll have clean underwear."

"I'll get you some clean clothes. After that I want you to eat. What sounds good?"

She shakes her head. "I don't think I could eat."

"I'll have Chef make you something. You don't have to eat it if you don't want, but it will be there for you. How's that?" He can sense her trying hard not to cry.

She nods at him and gets off the bed and goes into the bathroom. She peaks in the bathroom and it's huge. She looks around every corner to make sure there isn't anyone lurking in the shadows. A shiver runs up her back. She knows she's being a bit paranoid; Josef won't let anything happen to her, but she can't help it. After the attack she's jumpy. Once she knows she's alone she smiles shakily and decides to try and enjoy a shower in luxury.

Josef calls down to Robert, "Get Xavier to make something for Beth to eat, something with some protein. Tell him something that can sit for a while in case she doesn't want to eat right away." Then Josef goes to his closet and pulls out a t-shirt and a pair of his sweatpants for her to put on. He goes in the bathroom and sets them on the side of the vanity for her to find.

Soon she comes out of the bathroom. He can see unshed tears in her eyes, but a half smile on her lips. "Josef, you're too tall." She says this in mock frustration as she tries to walk in his sweats.

Josef crosses to her and picks her up and puts her on the bed. He rolls up the pant legs of the sweats. Looking down at his handy work he says, "That should help. Are you hungry? Chef made you a roast beef sandwich."

Beth looks over at the small table and chair over next to the wall and sees the food. She doesn't feel like eating but it seems important to Josef, so she goes over and sits down. "I'll try." She takes a bite of the sandwich and smiles. "This is so good." Suddenly, she's starving. "Do you have anything to drink?" He smiles. This is the calmest she's been since he found her. "We keep a pretty wide variety around here. Tell me what you want, and I'll go get it for you." She frowns at him. "Or, I can have someone get it for you."

She nods. "Sorry."

"Don't worry. It's fine. Now tell me what you want." Josef has Robert get her the requested item. Josef sits on the bed still leaning against the headboard, trying not to let his impatience show. He doesn't want her to crumble again, so he needs to proceed slowly. He has to find out where Mick is and what happened to him. Once she finishes, he pats the bed in front of him. "Come here. I need to talk to you." She looks down at the floor and walks over and sits down in front of him. "Beth? I need to know where Mick is. Is he ok? What happened to Mick?"

Beth looks up at him in confusion. "Mick wasn't home. He's out of town on a case."

"But he's not answering his cell phone. Are you sure he's out of town?" Josef asks, equally confused.

She nods. "He called me a few days ago…" She starts to frown not knowing what day it is. "last Tuesday and left me a message. He said he was still gone, but that he had broken his cell phone in a fight with some guy he was chasing. He would try and check in now and then."

Josef takes a deep breath. Anger starts to well up in him. Mick wasn't even there to protect her. The stupid son of a bitch spends twenty-two years trying to protect her and when she needs him, he's out of town. Josef takes a deep breath and tries to calm his anger. "Can you start at the beginning and tell me what happened? I need to know."

She's looking down again. "When Josh died, I was terrible to Mick. I treated him awful. I was mad at myself and feeling guilty, so I took it out on Mick. I tried to hurt him as much as I hurt, and he took it." She's shakes her head at her stupidity. "I needed some time to sort out my anger and regret." She looks up at Josef shyly. "You know I love Mick?"

Josef smiles at her. "Yes, I know."

"Well, I didn't talk to Mick for a week. It was terrible, but I was trying to punish both of us for hurting Josh when he was alive. Mick left a couple messages telling me when I was ready, he would be there for me. Then he called and said that he was leaving town on a case, but if I needed him for any reason to call his cell phone. A couple days after that he called and said his cell was busted, but he should be home soon."

"By then I had run through all my guilt and pain and I was ready to see him, so I went over to his apartment. He gave me a key some time ago. I thought I would surprise him and be there when he got back." Maybe wearing one of his shirts. She smiles at the thought. Josef watches her as her face darkens. "When I got out of my car there were these…. these."

Josef is sure he knows what's coming next. "Yes?"

"Well, I thought they were men, but they were vampires. They were in the back in the shadows where Mick usually parks. They were faster, stronger, I couldn't fight them. I ran for the elevator and pushed the button…. but…. I…wasn't fast enough. They got in with me and..." she trails off

He can figure out the rest. They rode the elevator up to Mick's, took the key from her and they were in.

"Did they say anything?" Josef wants to see if they were waiting for Beth, following her or it was random.

He notices her eyes look a little dazed. "Said they wondered if I was tasty. Said I looked tasty... they wanted to party… turned the stereo up high and tripped the breaker for the lights. They could see but it made it a lot harder for me…. one said he smelled vampire in Mick's apartment." Her heart is pounding. Josef runs his hands up and down her arms trying to keep her calm.

"They wondered why he wasn't snacking off me already. Thought he must be saving me for a special occasion… hoped he didn't mind sharing ahead of time. Two of them bit me." Josef watches her hand flutter up to her neck. She sounds like she's going to cry again.

"Said they wouldn't drain me… yet, since someone must be at least a little interested. One of them wanted to… wanted to… do more…. I told them they were dead. I had managed to get to where Mick keeps his gun and a few stakes. The third one tried to bite me, but this time I was ready. When he got close enough, he got a bullet and a stake for his trouble. It was tough by moonlight," she shudders "But I got lucky." He doesn't want her to relive this, but she needs to get some of it out in the open.

"That made them mad… they said they were going to kill me. I told them that one dead was the beginning... they were all as good as dead. They started stalking me around the room like tigers. Said I couldn't get them both... I told them it didn't matter that my friends, Mick, and Josef would finish them off. Wish I'd thought of that earlier. That stopped them cold." Josef thinks sourly, At least Mick and I being well known in the community has at least one perk.

"One of them asked me who lived there, I told them. Now they were the ones that freaking out. They ran out. I was afraid they would come back. I waited for Mick. Josef…. I was scared. I wouldn't have shot at you if I had known it was you."

"I know. Don't worry about it." Josef is trying hard to not let her feel how angry he is, angry with the thugs, and angry with Mick. "Is there anything else you can remember?"

She thinks it over for a minute. "I think they were always going to kill me." She hesitates. "I'm not sure why but I got the feeling they were toying with me like a cat plays with a mouse."

Josef nods slowly not wanting to tell her it was nothing personal. That's the vampire way with some of his people.

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Mick looks around the small hotel room and he can't wait to get home. Elwood's is nice enough, and they have portable freezers if you want to pay extra but they don't have Beth. He normally doesn't do these kinds of cases, but his client is the ex-wife of the guy he's chasing. She was beaten severely before the cops caught up with him the last time. She's afraid he will come back and finish the job on her and the kids if he's out running around free. Mick's been one step behind the man since he left LA. Tonight, he finally got a lucky tip from a cabby who Mick spread some cash to. Now the bail jumper is locked up in the Las Vegas city jail waiting transport back to LA.

He hasn't seen Beth since Josh's funeral. He left her a couple messages at first telling her that she could call him anytime if she wants to talk. He doesn't want to push her, but he wants her to know he is there for her. It kills him to not run to her and try and cheer her up, but he knows that's not what she needs right now. He's lost enough people in his life to know that sometimes you need to get through the pain as best you can. He also knows that it's why she lashed out at him when he did try to see her. As anxious as he is to get home and see if Beth has left him any messages. He decides to get some sleep; it's been a fast and furious few days and then head home in a few hours. It's only a two-hour drive so he can still get in before morning.

Josef looks down at Beth. He notices her eyes are starting to get heavy again. "You should go back to sleep. You've had a rough couple of days. If you wake up and I'm not here, Robert will be here. You know Robert, right?" She nods. "Is that ok?" she bites her lip, but nods. "How about this. If you wake up and Robert is here instead of me, you can ask for me and I'll come right away. Would that be ok?"

Beth nods. Josef moves out of the way and holds the covers up so she can climb under them and get some more sleep. She climbs in and it doesn't take long and she's asleep. Josef watches her. He forgets how animated humans are, even in sleep. Not like a vampire, who's dead to the world. Hopefully no more bad dreams.

Josef calls Robert. "She's gotten back to sleep. I told her that you might be here instead of me if she wakes up, but that you would have someone come get me right away. Don't leave her alone under any circumstances."

Josef moves to the office off his bedroom and picks up the phone and calls Ryder. "Run Mick's credit cards and find out where the hell he is."

Josef leans back in his chair waiting for Ryder. A few minutes later he gets his answers. Josef picks up. "Where the hell is, he?"

"Vegas. He's staying off the strip at Elwood's place. I called and he hasn't checked out yet. You want me to call and leave a message telling him to call you?"

"No, call and ask for Elwood, give him my name. Tell him to find Mick, wake him up or whatever, but do it now and tell him I want Mick to call me, immediately."

"No problem. I'll take care of it." Ryder hangs up.

A couple minutes later Josef looks down at the ringing phone displaying Mick's name. He's dreading this conversation. He decides to make it one sided, giving Mick the most important information. "Where the hell have you been? Never mind; listen I don't know where the hell you've been but get your ass back to my place as soon as you can. Beth was attacked. I found her at your place. I've had a doctor and a nurse check her out. She doesn't appear to have any lasting damage, but just the same, get back here."

The line is silent. "Mick?"

Mick feels a weight pressing against his chest. "Josef, I want to talk to her. If she's all right, then let me talk to her."

Josef wants to end this conversation. "You can't. She's eaten and she's gone back to sleep. Look the best thing would be if you got back here. I'm sure it would help her a lot if she could see you."

Mick realizes that Josef isn't going to relent. "I'm two hours away. I'll be there as soon as I can." Mick hangs up.

Mick takes a deep breath and decides he needs to keep it together until he gets a hold of whoever did this to her. Then he can let the anger loose. Until then, he needs to do what he has to see Beth for himself. Earlier he rented a car to come to Vegas. He returns to the rental agency and asks about an upgrade. This time he rents a black Ferrari. He decides to see how much time he can clip off those two hours without racking it up in the desert. That would not be good. Despite his guilt and rage he needs to get back to Beth.

Mick is driving the Ferrari as fast as he dares. He's trying to concentrate on the road. He keeps finding himself slipping off into despair one moment and rage the next. He hates it when his emotions threaten to overtake him. He pictures Beth when she sleeps; she's so beautiful. It calms the emotions running through him. He hopes she's sleeping that peacefully now. He's glad that Josef is taking care of her. Josef won't let anything else happen to her.

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Denton waits until the limo is almost at its destination. He taps the glass between himself and the driver. The window slides down. "I need you to go back to Josef's. I've forgotten one of my bags."

Tyler shakes his head. "I have strict instructions to bring you to the hotel. It's bad enough you've had me driving all over the place while you think."

Denton sighs, "You might as well do it because if you don't, I will take a cab back and charge it to Josef. I need that bag. It will be much faster if you turn around and take me back."

Tyler knows this is not good but doesn't know what else to do. "Fine, sir." And against his better judgment he takes Denton back to Josef's.

Now I'll get to see what Josef was trying to hide from me.

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**Comments are always welcome.**


	3. Chapter 3

**As much as I wish it. Moonlight doesn't belong to me in any way. I like to come play in their sandbox.**

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Josef takes a few minutes to call in one of his girls to have some lunch while Beth sleeps. He reflects on his changing relationship with Beth. It's gone from indifference, to skepticism, to fondness. After New York, to extended family and all that implies. When she gave him Sarah's diary, he knows she did it because she knew how much it would mean to him. It was a piece of the past that he could relive through Sarah's eyes. It was the kindest thing anyone had done for him in a long time.

He finishes his lunch and tries to decide what he is going to do about Mick. His initial anger at Mick subsides. He knows there is no way Mick could have known this was going to happen. But because of Mick's inability to come to terms with the fact that he's a vampire, he's put Beth in danger. Whether he wants to admit it or not it has to stop.

Josef goes in to check on Beth and finds Robert reading the paper and Beth still asleep. Josef hears Mick's car before it stops. Josef goes to the front door to meet him.

Mick bolts from the car. "Where is she? I want to see her."

Josef steps in front of Mick blocking his path to the door. "Mick, no. She's sleeping. I want to talk to you before you see her anyway."

Mick tries to push his way past Josef. "I want to see her now. I won't wake her up."

Josef was afraid of this. He slams Mick against the side of the house. "I said NO. Not yet. You will listen to me and you will do as I say, or so help me I will kick your sorry ass from one end of this property to the next."

Mick snarls at Josef, letting some of his rage out. Mick tries again to make Josef let him go and finds himself held up off the ground by his throat. Through gritted teeth Josef tells Mick, "That is ENOUGH! I don't want to hurt you, but I will."

Mick struggles under the older vampire's grasp and finally gets the message. "Alright!" Josef lowers him to the ground, and he jerks away from Josef. "What is so damn important that I can't see her first? Shit Josef, you're killing me here. I need to see her." Mick is rubbing his throat.

"Listen to me. What's so important is this, first off, they bit her, not once but twice on the neck, by two different vampires. She doesn't seem to be having to hard a time with it, but if you make a big deal out of it, you're going to make her feel worse. I will not have you make her feel like she did something wrong."

"I wouldn't. I don't care that she was bitten, the only thing that matters is that she is all right."

"Well, I had no way of knowing that is how you'd feel, because you act like biting her would be the end of the world. Since you're the one that she's been around the most your attitudes are what count. I will not have her feeling worse because you have issues."

Mick shakes his head "Of course, Josef. Fine. Vampires attacked her?"

"Yes, and she managed to kill one." Mick notices Josef says this with a note of pride. "Hell, of a girl you have there. But dammit Mick, part of this is your fault. They didn't take much; they just tasted her. Beth heard them say that they assumed someone was keeping her for a special occasion. Since she wasn't marked in any way, they didn't figure anyone would mind sharing a little. They figured she was free for the tasting."

Josef continues. He knows this isn't going to go over well, but it needs to be said, all of it. "This is the end of this thing with you and Beth, as it's been. I'm putting my foot down now. You either take her as your own and treat her as such, so she's safe from our kind, or I will."

Mick protests, "Josef, you can't."

Josef smiles at him coldly. "Mick, you know me better than that." Josef flashes his fangs at Mick. "I can and I will. What I won't do is allow her you to treat her like some little whore no one cares about. If you don't have the guts to make it known that she belongs to you and is under your protection, I will."

Mick looks shocked at Josef's words. "You know that's not how it is." Mick's voice comes out sounding raw. "Josef, I love her."

Josef nods. "Then act like it. I know you don't think of humans as property, but it's time you got with the program buddy. Because guess what? The rest of the tribe does. If you continue to leave her out there on her own, shit like this is going to happen. Well, no more. I told you after New York what I thought you should do. My opinion hasn't changed. You should stop hating what you are, turn her and live happily ever after. I've seen few humans that I thought would make as good a vampire as Beth would."

Mick shakes his head. "She had Josh before. I couldn't make her mine."

Josef explodes. "Bullshit. She's been in love with you at least as long as I've known her, and you know it. You and your self-loathing made it impossible to acknowledge what you both wanted. The truth is, all you ever had to do was ask and she would have dumped Lindsey in a heartbeat. She only hung on because you were always sending her so damn many mixed messages. You wanted her, but you didn't want her. It was too dangerous, but you never left. No more of this crap."

Mick is looking down at the ground. All the fight seems to have left him. "I'll stay away. I won't see her anymore."

Josef is getting exasperated. "You are such a stupid son of a bitch. You know what she was doing in your apartment? She came to surprise you to tell you that she wanted to be with you, that she loves you. She finally got her head together after Lindsey died and wanted to be waiting when you got home. Those thugs caught her in the garage. She ran into the elevator and they followed her up to your apartment."

Josef continues. He knows this is painful for Mick to hear, but he needs to know what happened to her. "They were going to rape her, but she had the presence of mind to shoot one, between the eyes and stake him, by moonlight. She got damn lucky. You keep silver bullets in your gun?" Josef doesn't wait for an answer. It's the only combination with the stake that made it possible for Beth to kill the vampire. "Then she threatened them with our names, and they asked who lived in the apartment. When she told them, they ran. I'm sure it's not going to be difficult to find them, but I want it done. They need to know that not every random blond is fair game, especially one that smells of someone else."

Mick's goes full vamp. "You don't have to worry about that. I'll find them."

Josef nods, and Mick returns to his human form.

Josef thinks this will be the hardest part. "Now, what the hell are you going to do about her? I want to know before you see her. I rescued her, so as far as I'm concerned, she stays my responsibility until I can find someone worth a damn to take over."

Mick won't look at Josef. "I don't know."

Josef turns and heads for the house. "Then get the hell out of here. I'll break the news to her somehow, and then I'll be responsible for her. You know, you're right about one thing that I wouldn't have agreed with until today. You don't deserve her, and you don't deserve to be happy because you don't want to be. You like wallowing in self-pity. God, living an eternal pity party, how boring. Go. Get the hell out of here before she wakes up."

Continuing, he says over his shoulder, "After today I don't want you ever to see her again. I'll take care of her from here on out. I'll make sure no one hurts her and then when she's ready, I'll turn her. I already feel protective of her. It won't be too big a leap to be her sire."

Mick grabs his arm and spins him around. "No."

"Why not? You don't care enough to do the right thing. You brought her into our world and thought you could keep her straddling the fence. It doesn't work that way for humans. It's too dangerous. It's bad enough you do it, but at least you can take care of yourself. Think about this for a second. If those animals that attacked her had wanted to turn her or kill her, there wasn't one damn thing that she could have done to stop them. You weren't there. I wasn't there. If someone's going to turn her it might as well be me. Get out of here. You don't have the guts to live the life you're dealt."

Once again Josef turns to the house. He had hoped he could reason with Mick. He knows how much Beth loves him and, in fact, how much Mick loves her. Josef thought that if it came down to a choice that Mick would make the right one, but it looks like he was wrong. Josef feels something breeze past him. He stops, and Mick is in front of him.

Mick looks him in the eye. "You win."

Josef puts up his hand. "It's not about winning. It's about you learning to live with what you are. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself how on earth Beth could love a monster? She loves you; she doesn't think you're a monster. For some reason she thinks your worth loving."

Mick squeezes his eyes shut. "Josef, I can't live without her. I say I'll leave and never see her again, but I know I could never do it. I would spend the rest of her life out of reach, and that would kill us both because deep inside she would know I was there." Josef hears a bitter laugh out of Mick. "I spent twenty-two years watching over her and the one time she needed me, I'm nowhere to be found."

Josef softens his tone. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You can't watch her twenty-four hours a day. The problem is, once you bring her into our world, if you love her, you need to bring her all the way in. There is no halfway with this. Do you think you can learn to see yourself through her eyes? Do you think you can stop talking about cures, stop trying to be what you're not? I'm not saying you need to start live-feeding; I'm not saying you need to change the way you live. I'm saying you have to change how you feel about what you are."

Mick takes a deep breath. "Yes, Josef, I can do it, but when the time comes, I still want you to do her turn."

"She may not agree." Mick knows Josef is thinking of Sarah.

"No, she'll agree. Especially after what's happened." Mick smiles at Josef, "She likes you. The two of you are a lot alike. You both get to the point."

Josef smiles, "If that's what she wants of course."

They walk together towards the house, "Josef, do you think I can leave her here for a couple more days? I don't want her alone in her apartment. I don't want her in my apartment until I make sure that Victoria's crew didn't miss anything that might upset her. I also need to see what I can find out about the animals who did this to her."

Josef shakes his head. "She's not going to like it."

"This one time I might be able to get her to do what I ask. We'll see." Mick thinks Josef is right, but he's got to try. "Josef, Can I see her now? I won't wake her."

Josef relaxes and smiles. He decides to give Mick one more shot. "Sure, she's up in my bed."

Mick arches an eyebrow at him, and Josef laughs. "Hey, it's the best bed in the house. You wouldn't want me to put her anywhere else, would you?"

Mick recognizes Josef being Josef. "You're incorrigible."

Mick runs up the stairs to Josef's bedroom. He peeks in the door and sees Robert sitting in the chair reading the paper. Robert heard every word that passed between Mick and Josef downstairs. He's glad that Josef finally let push comes to shove with Mick. Robert likes Mick but thinks it's time he grew up and joined the real world. Robert stands but doesn't move. Josef told him to stay with Beth. Josef sticks his head in the door and motions for Robert to follow him.

Mick sits in the chair and watches Beth sleep. She looks so peaceful. She's so beautiful. He listens intently to her heartbeat to make sure she's all right. Everything sounds good. The thought of her at the mercy of those animals, and him not being there to defend her makes him want to hit something in frustration. Next time he leaves town, for anything, she goes with him. Josef's right; he's treated her badly. No more. She's his and he's hers, if she'll still have him.

Her eyes open and she sees him. "Mick!" He leans back in the chair and opens his arms. She jumps out of bed and crawls up on his lap and into his arms. He hugs her tightly. "I'm so sorry, so sorry... I left you alone. love you so much."

She leans back and smiles at him. "Did you say you love me?"

He looks at her tenderly. "Yes, I love you. If you want me if you love me, I want you to be with me." He takes her face in his hands and gently brushes his lips against hers, once, twice, and then deepens the kiss. She lets out a little moan. He breaks the kiss and leans back away from her. "Could you want to be with me after how badly I've treated you?"

Beth starts to protest. "You didn't."

Mick stops her with a gentle kiss. "Yes, I did. I should have stopped making us both miserable and come to my senses sooner. If I had, this might not have happened to you. I hope you still want to be part of my life."

She looks at him with some impatience. "Mick I'm fine. Don't be an idiot. This is no more your fault than if I'd crossed the street and gotten run over. I will not have you blaming yourself for this. I don't and you shouldn't."

Mick's makes a face, "but..."

"No buts. It's over. I don't blame you and you can't blame you." She gives him a soft smile. "And yes, I love you and want to be with you always. This is all I've ever wanted."

Slowly he nods at her and smiles. "I hear you got one of them."

"Yep. Third time was the charm. First two bit me, but I got the third one before he could. Problem was, I almost emptied the gun before I got him. I think I shot out several of the lights. I'm sorry; your place is probably a disaster."

He snorts at her. "It's fine. If you're ok, that's all that matters. You don't remember Victoria at the apartment with Josef?"

"No, but I was sort of out of it. Only thing I remember is almost shooting Josef." Mick arches an eyebrow at that. "Scared me to death when I realized it was him. Good thing the gun was almost empty. I could see a silhouette in the dark and knew it wasn't you. I almost staked him, too. I hope I didn't hit Victoria or any of her people."

"I don't think so. Josef would have said something. Anyway, I'm sure she has it all back to normal for the most part." _No wonder Josef is so sure she will make a good vampire. So much fight in her to survive._

Mick takes her hands in his. "I want you to do something for me, if you can. I need you to tell me everything you can about the two that got away."

Beth takes a deep breath and he can see her detaching herself. She's putting herself in reporter mode. Then and tells him everything she remembers about the pair. She remembers a remarkable amount.

When she's done, he notices she's shaking and a little teary eyed. Not as detached as he'd hoped. He opens his arms again, and she hugs him tight.

He looks down at her and smiles. "You know, I'm not sure I like coming back and finding you in Josef's clothes."

She giggles. "Then from now on, you better not leave me by myself."

He smiles at her. "One more time. I need you to stay at Josef's a couple more days and then I'll take you home."

"Mick, no, I don't want to stay here. I want to go with you."

Mick closes his eyes. It's always so hard to say no to her, especially now. "Please. I need to do some things and I can't worry about you."

She looks down at her hands. "If you promise to get a new cell phone so I can talk to you and make sure you're alright. You're going after those guys who attacked me, aren't you?"

He nods. "I'll get a new phone as soon as I leave here." He takes her hands again. "You know I have to take care of this. Not only for you, but to make sure they don't hurt anyone else. I also need to do it because you threatened them with Josef. If there is no follow through it looks bad. Between what you told me and what Victoria has found out about the dead one, it shouldn't be too difficult to track them."

She looks at him quizzically. "Even though I'm human? The others won't think this is curious you would retaliate on my behalf. Or that Josef would offer his protection?"

Mick lets out a small growl. "No, because pretty soon everyone will understand that you belong to me."

Beth scrunches her nose at him, and he laughs. "I know, but as Josef pointed out to me, even if I don't look at it like that, the rest of the tribe does. That is what it's going to take to keep you safe."

"They won't be mad, that I killed one of their own?"

Mick snorts at her. "Hardly. Most everyone will know you acted within your rights to defend yourself and" he smiles at her. "Most will think it pretty damn gutsy for a human to take on three vampires and manage to kill one. They will figure they had it coming for being inept, if nothing else. Failure isn't something vampires respect. Guts, that they respect. You should have heard the pride in Josef's voice when he told me you killed one. So, you'll stay with Josef until I can take care of this? It shouldn't take but a day or so."

"Mick, I have no clothes, I don't have my laptop. I need my stuff."

"Not a problem. You make a list. I'll get what you need. The laptop is already here somewhere. Josef said it got smashed at the apartment, but he brought it along. He's going to have Ryder transfer the contents into a new one for you. Come on Beth, Please? I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't think it was the best thing. I want you with me as much as you want to go, but there are too many unknowns in this for me to be sure I can keep you safe."

She makes a face at him but finally she nods. "Alright, but this once."

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**Comments are always welcome**


	4. Chapter 4

**Moonlight isn't mine. It's just a place I go to play.**

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Beth reluctantly writes out a list of the things she needs. She wants to go with Mick, but she already told him she'd stay at Josef's. Mick sits with her until she drifts off to sleep. He stands to leave and hears her mumble, "Love you" in her half sleep.

He smiles down at her. "I love you, too."

As Mick turns to start down the stairs, he hears a car pull up front and looks out the front window. He sees the limo and wonders who's come calling. He's at the bottom of the stairs and sees Denton walking through the front door. Mick blocks the stairs in full vamp form. There is no way in hell Denton gets past Mick without one of them ending up dead.

Josef and Robert both hear the car at the same time. Robert shrugs at Josef's questioning glance. Robert heads for the door to see who it is and smells Denton. _Oh, Shit_ He turns back to get Josef and sees Josef pass him on his way to the front door.

Josef enters the room to Mick standing at the bottom of the stairs in full-fang vampire mode. Josef thinks if Denton can't see that confronting Mick is really a bad idea, he deserves what he gets. The two have a long-standing hatred for one another. Add in Mick's locked-in rage over what has happened to Beth, and Denton could be dead in a heartbeat. He's older than Mick, but he's no more than a thug and is limited in his abilities. That gives Mick a big advantage, especially in his current state of mind.

Denton holds up his hands. "I forgot a case. I just came back to get it."

Josef thinks Denton must be smarter than he thought, except that in the next instant he tries to move past Mick.

Josef watches Denton go flying across the room, through the front window and land on Josef's Ferrari.

"Damn it, Mick. Be careful of the car." Josef sighs_, _that window is going to be a pain in the ass to have replaced. It had to be special ordered when the house was built.

Robert moves past Mick. "I'll go up and get this case he says he forgot."

Mick nods and Robert zips up the stairs.

Josef leans against the doorway watching the proceedings. He sure as hell isn't going to get between the two. Josef knows that Robert told Denton to go to the hotel, but he had to sneak back to find out what was going on.

Denton stalks back into the house. Now he's showing fangs and the two of them are about to wreck his home with this throw down. Robert comes down the stairs with Denton's case in his hand. Robert moves past Mick and throws the case at Denton. "Here's the case you say you forgot." Robert spits the words at him.

Josef forgets how much Robert hates Denton. Josef thinks that's the first time he's seen Robert like this in close to a hundred years.

Denton catches the case in midair. He snarls at Mick. "I won't forget this." And he stalks out the door.

Josef moves to block the door to the limo. Denton can't open it without Josef moving. He looks at Josef. Josef gives him his deadliest smile. "I gave you an order, to go to a hotel but you couldn't do as your told. We're done. I don't need people who can't follow orders. Don't ever come back here. If I hear of you bothering Mick or anyone associated with him or me, I will make sure you regret it. Mick has his morals and all that, but he would not hesitate to kill you and he'll get all the backup he might need."

Josef moves out of the way and Denton opens the door and slams it behind him, but the car doesn't move. Josef looks to the other side of the car and sees the young driver standing a safe way back from the car. Josef doesn't have to be a vampire to see the young one is frightened. Having him drive Denton is out of the question. Josef sighs, _this gets more complicated by the minute_. _The only thing that could add to this mess is and oh wait, there it is, Beth is awake and looking for Mick_. Since the last thing Josef wants is for Denton to see Beth, he moves back into the house to tell Mick to see to her. He sees Mick already running up the stairs to her.

Josef turns to Robert. "Who do we have that can drive Denton back to the hotel?"

Robert makes a sour face. "No one, but me. I'll do it, just to get rid of him. He won't dare try anything with me. He thinks he could take me. It would be a pleasure to show him he is wrong." 

Josef smiles. "I'm sure the keys are in the ignition." as Robert walks out to the limo.

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Beth wakes up to the sound of the crash downstairs. She's disoriented at first; afraid she is back in Mick's apartment with the vampires. When she realizes she's at Josef's and it all comes back to her. She remembers Mick being here and worries that the crash has something to do with him. She gets out of bed and walks to the door only to have him slip in and take her in his arms. She leans back and looks at him. She can see he's upset about something. "Are you ok? What was that noise?"

He smiles at her rather triumphantly she thinks and tells her. "I'm fine. Nothing to worry about, just taking out the trash."

Beth hears a car drive away and wonders what kind of car the trash drives. "Mick, what aren't you telling me?"

"It's not a big deal. There was someone here that didn't belong. I took care of it, although probably not the way Josef would have liked. Now needs a new front window and he has a dent in the Ferrari." He says the last bit a little sheepishly.

Beth shakes her head. "Are you sure? I know you; few things would evoke that kind of response. If there is a threat to me, I need to know what it is."

"It's fine. I'm sorry I woke you. Go get back in bed. I'll be back before you know it." She nods, but decides she's going to have a talk with Josef or Robert or both. There is something he's not telling her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Denton sits in the back of the limo thinking about the altercation with St. John. Well, he found out what he wanted to know, the hard way certainly, but at least he knows what they are protecting. Denton is not an idiot. First off, he could smell the human and that smell, her smell had not been there before. He's sure she must belong to St. John. In all the years they have known one another he has never gone to such lengths. He's sure there is only one thing that would elicit this kind of violence from St. John and that is a female he is protecting. She must be something special for Josef to add his protection to her as well.

Mick drops off the things Beth requested, and then heads back out.

First stop is his apartment. He needs some time in his own freezer. It has been a long night, and into the morning, by the time it's all said and done.

The next afternoon Beth is dressed in her own clothes again. Much earlier Mick went to her place and got her clothes, he said so he wouldn't have to smell Josef every time he kisses her. She laughs at the thought. Mick also brought her a couple books and her MP3 player. He's trying to find things to keep her from being too bored.

Josef's chef is human named Xavier. While he's making her a sandwich, she spends some time quizzing him. She wants to know what it's like living in this house and cooking for Josef's girls. She can tell she's driving him crazy and she finally feels sorry for him and leaves him alone.

Beth decides that she will sit at the table off the kitchen and have her sandwich. It feels odd in the rest of the house with everyone asleep. It feels empty and she doesn't like feeling like she's alone. A girl wanders into the kitchen. Beth watches her talk to the chef. She notices the girl is about twenty and unbelievably beautiful. She figures this must be one of Josef's girls. She never sees them because they spend all their time in another wing of the house.

Xavier hands the girl a salad. She starts to come to the table Beth is sitting at and stops. The girl hesitates. Beth smiles at her hoping she will sit down. Beth would love to have someone to talk to.

The girl stops short of the table and narrows her eyes at Beth when she sees the fang marks on Beth's neck. Beth realizes the girl thinks they are from Josef and she laughs. "Come, sit down. It's not what you think." The girl is still hesitant but figures maybe she can find out if this is the reason Josef didn't come see any of them for a whole day.

Beth smiles at her. "My name is Beth."

The girl looks at her warily. "Emily." She says.

"Well, Emily it's nice to meet you."

Emily nods at her. "Are you a friend of Josef?" Emily asks.

Beth smiles "Yes, but not like you're a friend of Josef. I'm a better friend of Mick. Do you know Mick?"

Emily smiles at her for the first time. "Yes, I know Mick. He's a nice guy and we all like him even if he doesn't ever, well, you know."

They chat for a little while and Emily looks at Beth's neck more pointedly. "Ah, I was wondering, about the marks on your neck, Mick?" Emily hopes she hadn't asked the wrong question. Beth seems upset.

"I was attacked the other night by three vampires. Two of them bit me. Josef found me and took care of me until Mick could get home. He was out of town."

"You know, I forget sometimes that there are vamps out there who aren't like Josef and Mick. Well, unless that awful Denton is visiting, then I remember. I wish Josef wouldn't let him stay here. He's not nice. I was glad when I heard Mick tossed his butt out of here last night. I would have loved to have watched him sail through the front window."

Beth perks up at the mention of the fight. "Hey, I was sleeping when that happened, and I didn't get a chance to ask Mick about it. What happened?"

They hear someone clearing their throat. Both turn to see Josef standing in the doorway. Beth wonders how long he's been there. _Damn sneaky vamps_. Josef looks at Emily, "I think you two have had enough of a visit. Beth needs to rest. She's had a rough time of it."

Emily smiles at Josef and turns back to Beth. "It was nice talking to you. You know if you put some Vitamin E on those wounds, they will heal up faster." Emily picks up her salad and smiles at Beth. "Bye."

"Thanks, I'll do that. It was nice talking to you."

Beth turns to Josef. "We were having a nice time. How come you made her leave?"

He smiles gently at her. "You need your rest."

"If I get anymore rest, I'm going to go stir crazy. Josef, how come Mick threw that guy through the window?"

Josef sighs and sits down. "You tell Mick he owes me for this. He should have discussed this with you himself. I think he's feeling over-protective and doesn't want you worrying about anything. Mick and Denton hate each other and have for years. Denton is a thug; he will do things that need to be done that, let's say, Mick won't do, so I've tolerated him. I got rid of Denton before I brought you here, but he came back for a case he left behind. I'm sure he did it on purpose so he could find out what was going on. Mick was in no mood for him. He stood at the bottom of the stairs and would have killed him before he would have let Denton up those stairs. So, he tossed Denton out." Josef snorts. "I guess you haven't been to the front entryway. If you had, you'd see that Mick threw Denton through the special ordered, pain in the ass to replace, plate glass window and dented my Ferrari." Beth covers her mouth trying not to laugh.

Josef smiles, "Actually it was good for Mick. It took some of the edge off him. He was wired pretty tight after what happened."

Beth looks a little nervous. "Is Denton likely to be trouble?"

"I don't think so. Mick and I made it clear that he was not welcome here again. I made sure he knew that Mick and anyone he associates is under my protection. Don't worry about it. Besides once Mick finishes up his business and you leave here; you're going to be lucky if you can shake him for some time."

She smiles, that knowing smile women have when they are in love, and Josef wonders if Mick has any idea what he's in for.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When twilight rolls around, Mick takes a good look at his apartment to make sure that the evidence of Beth's attack was erased. He knows that it is going to take a little while for her to feel comfortable in the apartment again. He doesn't want anything to make it worse. He admits Victoria's crew did a pretty good job on the cleanup. He moves a few things around to hide a couple of pictures that were removed because of broken glass.

Next Mick calls Victoria. "Hey, I'm back in town. Any chance I can meet you somewhere. I'd like to talk about the guys who attacked Beth."

"Sure, we've just rolled up to an alley over on 34th by that little Korean dinner. I'll meet you in the parking lot."

"Thanks." Mick says.

Mick walks across the dark parking lot. "Nice to see you didn't get caught in the crossfire." He laughs softly, "Heard she took a shot at Josef. Beth was worried she might have hit you when I mentioned you were there. Thank you for helping Josef with her and thanks for getting my place back in order."

Victoria grins at him. "You know, I'm not much for your average human, but that girl of yours did pretty well. She stayed alive and managed to take out one of the bad guys. Not bad. She'll make a good vampire someday."

"You sound like Josef. So, what do you have for me on the dead one?" Mick asks.

Victoria snarls softly. "He was only sixty; name was Miles, just your average punk. From the sounds of it, he would have had to be put down at some point anyway. This wasn't the first time he and his buddies were involved in something like this. The three of them killed a couple of other women, one up in San Francisco and another here somewhere. They aren't hiding their fang marks or calling me or anything else they are supposed to do. They are a danger to us all. The difference from what I can find out is that your girl fought them."

"Any idea about the other two? Has anyone seen them around?" Mick asks.

"The bartender at Bennies, over on 5th told me he ran with two others about the same age. From what I could find out, you can find them there most nights. Although that may not be the case if they know you're hunting them. Are you going to take care of this?" She asks.

Mick flashes his fangs. "What do you think?"

"Yea, dumb question." Victoria takes out a pen and her card and prints the names of the other two Mick is looking for.

He takes the card. "I'll call you when it's done. Send me the bill."

"Can't. Josef said he's paying the freight on this one. Call me when it's time."

They both disappear into the darkness.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the early evening, a messenger shows up. Robert takes the package and Josef tells him to give it to Beth. The two of them look on as she tears into the package to discover a very nice new laptop.

There is a note.

**To the lovely Beth, this one has about twice the power and memory of your old one. All your files transferred with no problem so everything should be there. Ask Josef to give you the guest codes for his wireless network.**

**Ryder.**

**P.S. It was Josef's idea.**

Beth gives a yell and is so happy to have her laptop back she gives Robert a hug, and then runs to Josef and hugs him. Beth looks up at Josef. "I'll pay you back when I get paid."

He waves it away. "This ones on me."

She smiles and hugs again. "Thank you so much."

She sits down to check out all the new features on the laptop. Josef smiles. _That should keep her busy for a couple days and hopefully out of trouble. _

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Denton sits in the airport bar waiting for his plane. He is going back to Detroit. He will think on how to get even with St. John from there. No need to stay in California.

Denton smells the decay before he sees her. All he knows is that she is very old. He looks up as she sits down across from him. She's a very beautiful vampire, no idea of her age of course but if he had to guess he would say over 400. She is older than Josef that is for sure. He doesn't say anything just watches her.

She smiles at him, "I understand that you and Josef have had a falling out due to St. John."

Denton nods. "Word travels fast."

"How would you like to get even with the two of them?"

Denton smiles "You've got my attention. Keep talking."

"St. John and Josef need a lesson, and you can help me give them that."

"That's all well and good. You're right, I would like to get even with those two, but I still need to get paid. I don't do anything for free."

"How about I make St. John's human a present to you?"

Denton perks up immediately. "If you can help me get that, you can consider that all the payment I need."

"I thought that might be the case."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Comments are always welcome.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Moonlight isn't mine. It's just a place I go to play.**

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick walks into Bennies and slowly wanders through the crowd. He doesn't see either of the men Beth described. It's been quite a while since he's been here, and he notices by the clientele this is a very vamp friendly pool hall. Mick gets close and realizes even the bartender is a vampire. He approaches the bar. "Hey, I'm looking for a couple of guys Victoria told me hang out here. One's name is Jorge and the other is Brandon. Have you seen them tonight?"

The bartender, a squat smiling vampire wonders if St. John remembers him. He smiles at Mick. "You don't remember me, do you?"

Mick thinks this could be good or this could be bad. "No, sorry. Has it been a long time?"

"Yes, well, sort of. Depends on who's keeping track. My name is Harvey, Harvey Black. About 15 years ago you helped clear me of murder."

Mick thinks for a moment. "I remember you. Hey, weren't you a human then?"

Harvey smiles. "I was and, of course, I had no idea you weren't."

Harvey offers Mick his hand and they shake. "So, Mick, what can I do for you?"

Mick hopes this is a good sign. "I'm looking for a pair of vamps. One goes by the name Jorge and the other Brandon. They used to have a third named Miles. I hear they hang out here. Have they been in lately?"

Harvey smiles. "Does "use to have a third," mean what I think it means?"

Mick laughs. "It does. The three of them were terrorizing a human female. She killed him for it and lived to tell me about it."

"Really? Good for her. Those three are trouble wherever they go. I can't name five vamps that would call them friend. But what does that have to do with you?"

"She's my human and I'm damned unhappy about her being attacked." Mick thinks the more he says that to the local community the better. Josef is so right.

Harvey sees the grim look on Mick's face and thinks there will be two more dead as soon as he catches up to them. "Let's see, last time I saw any of that bunch was a week, ten days ago. It must have been before that incident because all three were in together. They haven't been back since."

"Any idea where they would go to ground? I'm sure they know I'm hunting them." Mick asks.

"No, but you see that blond vamp in the corner wearing the overcoat?" Mick nods. "Well that's Jason and he also seems to have a dire need to catch up with them. You might talk to him."

"Thanks. I'll do that." Mick takes out his card and folds a fifty-dollar around it. "Call me if anyone else comes asking, would you?"

Harvey smiles and hands back the fifty. "This ones on me. I wouldn't be here if not for you helping me out fifteen years ago."

Mick walks over to the man in the corner. "I hear we have a mutual concern to take care of."

Jason leans back in his chair and smiles thinly. "And what would that be?"

"Jorge and Brandon. I hear you're looking for them."

Jason's eyes darken at the mention of the names. "And Miles."

Mick motions to the chair. "You'll find Miles won't be a problem anymore. Mind if I sit down?"

Jason smiles a genuine smile. "Go ahead, Mr.?"

Mick grabs the chair and faces the door before he sits down. "St. John, Mick St. John. And you're?"

Jason offers him his hand. "Jason Andrews"

The two men shake. "I can't wait to hear why Miles isn't part of the problem anymore."

"I was out of town and the three of them ambushed a human female, my human female. She managed to kill him for his trouble. The other two got away. I want them. No one touches her and gets away with it." Mick snarls

Jason looks sad. "I'm glad she was able to kill the son of a bitch. I wish I had taught Amelia to defend herself. She never had a chance. I was out of town at the time also."

Mick and Jason look at each other and finally Mick says what he suspects they are both thinking. "Interesting. I find it odd that both of the women that these animals killed or tried to kill are both human?" Jason nods. "And both have male vampires they associate with, and both of us were out of town at the time of the attacks. A little too much coincidence for my taste. My information also suggests that, not only was your Amelia killed by them, but also another woman. I think I need to find out about that other woman."

They are both silent for a moment, and then Mick breaks the silence. "Jason, I'm a P.I. If you could tell me what happened maybe it will help me find them."

Jason thinks about it for a minute. "As long as you give me a call if you catch up with them and let me know the situation has been taken care of. If I don't hear from you, I'll start hunting again."

Mick nods "Deal." Jason begins to tell him about himself and Amelia and what he was able to put together after he got home. It was strikingly the same encounter that Beth had, but unfortunately for Amelia she wasn't as lucky as Beth.

Mick glances at the door when he hears it open and his eyes flash for a second. Jason notices this. "Friend of yours?"

Luckily, Denton hasn't seen him across the crowded room and there are too many people for Denton to sort out Mick's sent. "I threw him through a plate glass window yesterday. Unfortunately, it didn't slice off his head when he went through. I'm going out the side door. I don't have time to mess with him right now. Be careful if he approaches you. He is dangerous."

Jason nods. "Will do, and you'll call me when it's done."

Mick smiles grimly "Of course." Mick blends into the crowd and goes out the side door.

Mick smells the night air and suddenly has an overwhelming need to see Beth. He gets in his car and drives to Josef's. Hearing about Amelia's death made him sad, made him realize how lucky he was Beth was still alive.

Mick finally reaches Josef's, and Robert meets him at the door. "Is Beth still awake?"

Robert smiles, "I think she's asleep. She couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. She was working with her new laptop, and I told her if she didn't go upstairs and get to bed, I would carry her up myself."

Robert looks at Mick a little concerned. "Something's happened, you don't look so good."

"I just need to see her." Mick says in a halting voice.

Robert nods. "Well, you know where she is."

Mick silently runs up the stairs taking them two at a time. Robert wonders if what happened to Beth is finally hitting Mick beyond the anger.

Mick slips in her room. For a moment he stands next to the bed and watches her sleep. Thinking of what could have happened makes it hard for him to see straight. He needs to hold her in his arms. He gets control of himself, strips down to his boxers and slides in next to her in bed.

She mumbles his name in her half sleep and moves into his arms. Mick holds her tight and looks down at her. The thought of her being hurt at all brings a tear to his eyes. What an idiot he's been all this time. This woman owns him body and soul and he realize it's been that way for an awful long time. He lays there with her listening to her heartbeat, to her breathe. It comforts him like nothing else.

After a while, Mick slides out of the warmth of her arms and he sees a frown cross her face in her sleep. He leans down and kisses her gently on the lips. He had to see her, to feel her, to make sure she was okay. Feeling like he can go on now, he turns back to the work at hand. He gets dressed and writes Beth a note telling her Jason and Amelia's names. He asks her to see what she can come up with on the third woman. She might be able to come up with something he won't find locally. It will give her something to do, and he knows she will like an opportunity to help.

Mick doesn't see Robert or Josef as he comes down the stairs. He has an idea and goes in search of one or the other. He finds Robert in the study, "Robert where is Josef? I need to ask him a couple of questions."

Robert looks up from his paperwork. "He left a few hours ago. He's at the office."

Mick nods and heads out. On his way to Josef's office, he decides to make a side trip to Jenny's. He smiles. _Won't she be surprised?_

Jenny's is the name of a private club for vamps. It's also the name of the vampire who owns the place. In the old days, the clientele was mostly males. These days he imagines closer to fifty-fifty.

Jenny was turned in the 1800s. She was a working girl in Dodge City when Wyatt Earp was marshal. She is very beautiful with dark brown hair and blue eyes. Once she was turned, she built up a clientele of very rich vamps that wanted to socialize with their own and relax with an open bar, as it were. Mick and Josef spent a lot of time in this club before Mick rescued Beth. Over the last several years Jenny and Josef clashed over her stable and Josef's girls. They both always want the most intelligent, beautiful girls with the purest taste. Josef's private stock is legendary, as are Jenny's girls.

Mick pulls up at the private club. He goes to the front door not bothering to try and get past Aldrich, the bouncer at the door. It's been twenty-two years, but he's sure she will remember him. He pauses at the huge doorman. "Could you tell Jenny that Mick St. John would like to see her?"

The vamp nods and speaks into his headset. The doorman grunts. "She says you should go right in."

Mick walks down the entrance hall to the main club and Jenny is standing there with her arms out. He gives her a hug, and she wrinkles her nose at him. "I take it you're not here for the girls." He knows she can smell Beth on him.

Mick smiles at her, "No, Jen, I need some information. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

She starts to walk towards her office shaking her head. "What's it been, twenty years since you've been here? You know you could at least come by and say hello now and then."

He looks at her sheepishly. "Ah, couldn't, too much temptation."

She sits at her desk and he sits across from her. She looks at him trying to figure out what's changed. "When you stopped coming around, I asked Josef what happened, and he said you'd gone retail." She smiles wanly at him. "We all hoped it was a phase you were going through. You know when you stopped hanging out here, eventually I lost Josef. He started his own private stock and I've had to fight him fang and nail for girls ever since." She glowers at him for a minute, and then smiles. "So, who is she? I hope she's worth my troubles."

He gives her that dopey half smile. "Her name is Beth, and yes she is"

"Lucky girl." Jenny says under her breath.

Mick gets serious. "Jenny, she was attacked the other night. She killed one, but the other two got away."

Jenny looks at him quizzically. "Wait she's human right?" He nods. "Against three vamps, she killed one and she's still alive?"

Mick nods. "She's a fighter, but she also got lucky. Look, I can't let this go. These guys have to be dealt with. I was wondering if you know anything about them. They go by the names Jorge, Brandon and the dead one was Miles."

Jenny snorts. "Those three. All I can tell you is all three of them were banned from here about ten years ago. They were terrible to the girls. Weren't happy unless they were alternately scaring them or hurting them. I had to hire extra security for a year to make sure the girls were safe. You know I think I may know someone who might know them. There is a friend of mine, has a club like this in The Tenderloin up in San Francisco. Her girls and her clientele are somewhat more exotic than mine. I'll call her if you like."

Mick nods. "That would be great."

Jenny smiles at him. "You know; we still serve some of the best scotch in town. Why don't you go to the bar and have one while I try to get her on the phone? It could take a few minutes."

Mick smiles. "Sure." He leaves her office and looks around. She's always changing with the times. The décor is much different than it was before, but the layout is the same. He walks over to the bar and orders a scotch, neat. The bartender looks at him questioningly. He shrugs and pours him one straight out of the bottle. He hands it over and Mick looks around. A beautiful brunette sidle up to him. He looks at her out of the corner of his eye. She smiles at him and holds out her arm. He smiles, shakes his head as she fakes a pout.

Jenny walks up about that time "Sylvie, leave this one alone. He's an old friend and he's got his own stock."

The girl smiles and puts her finger under his chin. "If you ever want a little variety just call." And she slinks off.

Mick smiles and shakes his head. "Some things never change. You have some gorgeous women around here."

Jenny looks at Mick slyly. "Better than Josef's?"

Mick laughs "Don't drag me in to it. You'll be telling Josef I said you have better girls than he does. He'll be on my doorstep trying to make me pick one, Beth or no Beth. I don't need the headache."

Jenny sighs and motions for him to come back to the office. "Irene says that those three were in there pretty regularly for a couple of years and then nothing. She hasn't seen them in three weeks or more. She said she would call me right away if they showed up."

Mick nods. "Well, it was worth a try. Thanks."

Mick gets up to leave and Jenny calls back to him. "Hey now that you seem a little immune to temptation, you might drop by and at least say hi now and then. You could bring Beth; we could have some girl talk."

Mick laughs out loud. "Yea, right, Jen. Like I'm going to let that happen. You don't know this girl; she would question you mercilessly and I don't think either of us wants that."

Jenny laughs and teasingly tells him. "Aw, Mick it would be fun."

He laughs again and heads for the door. Halfway through the parking lot Mick's phone rings. He swipes across. "St. John."

"Hey Mick, it's Harvey Black. Just wanted to give you a heads up, right after you left a big vamp, in the old days we'd have called him a pug. Looks like his nose was busted a couple times before he was turned. You know the guy?"

Mick nods remembering throwing Denton through the window. "Yea Harvey I know the guy. What about him?"

"Well he came in not long after you and I talked, and he was asking about the same guys you were. He bought a few of the regular's drinks trying to get some idea of where he could find them, but I don't think he got much. You said to call if anyone was asking."

"Thanks Harvey. That's important information. You need anything call me; I owe you one." Mick looks out across the parking lot trying to figure out what Denton's angle is. Who would have put him on Brendan and Jorge's trail? He shakes his head. He needs more information.

Mick arrives at Josef's office and he's on the phone. Mick walks over and sits down waiting for him. Josef looks up and scowls at him. He hangs up, the scowl still on his face. "Do me a favor would you? Next time you decide to send some vamp flying, miss the window, and aim for the wall. Do you have any idea how much of a pain it's going to be to replace that window? And I had to trade the Ferrari in. It will never be the same."

Mick sighs. "Josef, you know I'm sorry. It was Denton and he was trying to go upstairs where Beth was sleeping. For once, I figured screw it and let the vamp take over. Tell me you didn't enjoy seeing that creep flying through the air."

Josef smiles. "It was a sight to behold. I don't think I've seen anyone get quite that much air out of a vampire in a long time. Hell, of a good throw. Now, what's up? You didn't come in here so I could bust you about the window and the car."

"No, I didn't. Do you know an investment banker in San Francisco named Jason Andrews?"

Josef nods. "Sure. I've done business with him on several occasions."

Mick sighs. "That's what I was afraid of. I met him tonight. He was trying to find the same guys I am. Victoria told me that those three had killed at least two other women; maybe more. They aren't hiding their handy work or calling her, or anything else to hide what they were doing. Well, one of those women was Jason's human. From what he told me, the resemblance to what happened to Beth was very similar, except that Beth came out alive and Amelia didn't. He was also out of town at the time of the attack. I'm going to call Victoria and ask her if she can find out about any other women. I need to see if more of a pattern turns up, but I don't like the way this looks. It doesn't look so random anymore."

Josef frowns. "I wondered why I hadn't heard from Jason in a while. You know, I think I even met Amelia once. I went up to get a change of scenery and do some business at the same time, and the three of us went out for drinks. I remember thinking she was very pretty and awfully nice, but she was timid. I was even on my best behavior."

Mick snorts at him. "Yea, whatever that means. Oh, and before I forget it looks like Denton is also looking for those two. Now why would that be?"

Josef looks surprised. "Interesting. Since I fired him the other day, after you tossed him through the one of a kind windows and dented my car."

Mick smiles. "I'm never going to hear the end of that, am I?"

"No." Josef flashes his fangs at Mick. "I told him I would no longer need his services. I would guess someone who doesn't want you to find those two has hired Denton to make sure they stay quiet. Now who would do that? You're right. You need to find out about any other woman and find out if there is more of a pattern."

Mick gets up, but Josef calls him back. "Hey, I hear you stopped at Jenny's."

Mick smiles. "Word travels fast. I wanted to ask her if she ever had any dealings with those three and I would appreciate it if you let me tell Beth."

Josef smiles with a glint in his eye. "Uh, speaking of which. I might have gotten cornered into telling her about you tossing Denton through the window."

Mick scowls at him. "Josef you never get cornered into telling anyone anything."

Josef looked a little sheepish. "Yes, well she needed to know, and I sort of had to distract her from something else."

Mick looks at him questioningly. "I would have told her, eventually. What did you need to distract her from?"

Josef taps the desk with a letter opener. "When I found her, she was in the kitchen quizzing Emily about the fight, about a lot of things. They were having a regular girl's lunch. Mick, you know how I feel about Beth, but I don't need her having a gab session with any of my girls."

Mick laughs "So you told Beth about Denton to distract her from spending more time with Emily?" Mick shakes his head. "You know if she decides to do it again, you're going to have to sit her down and ask her to stay away from them. She will do it for you. She won't like it and it's the only way she'll stay away if she gets it into her head that they know something she wants to know."

Josef sighs, "I know. So back to Jenny, who do you think has better girls?"

Mick laughs. "I do." And he turns and leaves the office.

Mick gets in his car and calls Victoria. "Hey, do you have any information on any of the dead women that these three can be linked to?"

There is silence for a minute. "No, none was given to me, just that they were killed. I'll ask around and see what I can find out. I'll call you if I find anything."

"Thanks, hey and be careful. Denton is looking for those two as well. He's dangerous."

"And you don't think I am?" She said into the phone rather testily.

"Yes, I know you are. I want you to be prepared." Mick sighs into the phone and hangs up.

He drives home as dawn is fast approaching. He sits down on the couch and makes one more phone call. He doesn't want to wake her, but he needs to hear her voice before he turns in. "Hey."

"Hey yourself" she answers. "You know, I had the strangest dream last night."

He smiles into the phone, "Good one I hope."

"Oh, very good. I dreamed that this wonderful man I've fallen in love with slipped into bed with me and held me close."

"Maybe it wasn't a dream."

"Well, if it wasn't, then how come he didn't wake me up when he was here and how come he was gone when I woke up? Must have been a dream."

"Probably because he knew you needed your sleep. I'm sure he was desperate to hold you, needed to know you were safe."

Beth realizes he sounds like something is bothering him. "Hey, what happened? You sound sad."

"I'm fine. I had a bad night. You remember that I told you that those three that attacked you were most likely responsible for at least two other women?"

"Yes"

"Well, I met a vampire who was in love with one of them. They killed her. That could have been you. I needed to see you."

"It's ok, I'm ok. I'm right here driving everyone crazy." Beth says.

"I know, but like I said, I had to hold you."

Beth giggles. "Hey, any time you want to hold me or do anything else you slip in to bed next to me. I'm all yours."

Mick let out a low growl. "I miss you. I hate to say this, but this could take a few more days than I thought. We'll see how it goes tonight. There seem to be patterns. What happened to you may not have been so random. Did you get my note?"

"Yes, and as soon as I finish getting organized, I'll start on it. Right now, I'm still in one of your t-shirts in bed with nothing else on, missing you."

Mick lets out a groan. "You'll leave a message if you find anything?"

"Of course. You'll call me when you get up?"

"Not if you don't stop telling me about how little you're wearing."

Beth giggles and hangs up. Mick heads up to the freezer, thinking about Beth in his t-shirt. with nothing else on missing him.

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**Comments are always welcome. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Moonlight isn't mine. It's just a place I go to play.**

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Josef finds Beth hard at work in his study. She has her laptop sitting in front of her, a pad to the side and a pencil stuck behind her ear. _Damn it, _Mick's right, she is the best looking one of the bunch. He shakes himself a little. _Got to quit thinking about her like that._ Josef clears his throat, so he won't startle her.

Beth looks up. "Oh, hey, you'll want your desk back. Sorry. It was the most comfortable place to work. Mick asked me to do some research for him." Beth picks up her laptop to move her stuff off his desk.

Josef holds up his hand. "Help yourself. We don't exactly keep the same hours. I want to drop off my briefcase and then I'm going to hit the freezer." Josef is relieved that she has something to keep her occupied. Hopefully, it will keep her out of trouble until he gets up.

Josef turns to leave the room and he hears Beth say. "Josef, don't worry, I'll stay away from Emily and the rest of the girls." Beth has given this a great deal of thought. He obviously isn't comfortable with them talking. As much as it bugs her, she owes Josef too much to make him uncomfortable about something she can control. She admits to herself that she cares about Josef too much to let this be a problem. Although why it bothers him, she has no idea.

He looks back at her and she is looking down, making notes on whatever she is reading. He smiles at the top of her head. "Thank you." He says softly, and he goes off to his freezer. He will have to ask Mick if he said something to her.

Beth stares at the laptop. She isn't finding much on Jason or Amelia. Not finding anything on Jason isn't a surprise. If he is anything like Josef, he works hard to stay out of the limelight. Now, on Amelia, there isn't even a police report or newspaper account of her death. Jason must have called San Francisco's cleaner instead of calling the police. If that was the case, Mick needs to talk to whomever the cleaner is up in San Francisco. Beth goes back to her laptop to do more research and make more calls.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

At nine that night Mick finds himself in an alley behind Bennie's. He crosses to Victoria to see what she has found.

She's looking down at a couple of dead vamps. "I take it since I didn't get any calls that you didn't do this?"

Mick shakes his and looks over the two bodies. "I take it this is Brandon and Jorge."

She nods. "The bartender ID'd them."

"Wasn't me, I'd have called. My guess is it was Denton. I sure wish I knew who he was working for."

"I thought he worked for Josef?"

Mick grins. "Well, they had a falling out precipitated by me throwing Denton through a plate glass window at Josef's."

Victoria laughs and then stops. "Not the one in the front that he had to have special ordered when the house was built? That is going to be a pain in the ass to replace."

Mick shrugs sheepishly. "Yes, that one and you haven't heard the half of it. He slammed into the Ferrari when he went through the window. Josef had to trade it. Said it would never be the same."

Victoria shakes her head. "You're lucky Josef likes you or you'd be in a world of hurt by now."

"Ya think?" is all he can say.

He smiles at her. "Ok, let's get back to the dead vamps. Who called it in?"

"The bartender went to empty the trash and found them. He called me and said he'd call you, but I told him I'd take care of it. I haven't found anything to let me in on who may have done this."

"Let me give it a try." Mick goes over to the bodies and uses his vampire senses to try and figure out who killed Jorge and Brandon. He gets a whiff of Denton, but there was someone else; someone familiar, but not familiar. He will have to try and bring that memory back.

Mick walks back to Victoria. "Well, I got a whiff of Denton, but that's no surprise to me but there is someone else, someone I should know but can't place. I'm not seeing anything. I'll have to give it some thought. Did you find out anything about any other woman they murdered?"

"The first one was Amelia." Mick holds up his hand. "I actually ran into her Vampire. I have lots on her. How about the other one?"

"The other woman was Alicia and she also had a male Vampire association. His name is Darius Fitzsimmons"

"What kind of job did he have? Do you know?"

"He speculates on precious metals, gold, silver, platinum, that kind of thing. She was a nurse at a hospital here in LA."

Mick takes out his phone and speed dials Josef. "Hey, do you know a precious metal speculator named Darius Fitzsimmons?"

"Sure. I've done business;" Josef stops and then Mick hears him say. "Oh shit, Lola"

Mick closes his eyes. He does not like that sound of that. "Josef, what about Lola?"

When Victoria hears Lola's name she swings around and stares at Mick. Through gritted teeth she hisses at him. "That bitch better be dead. I spent weeks cleaning up innocent vamps that she killed with no more thought than swatting a fly."

Mick makes a face and waves his hand at her to be quiet so he can hear Josef. She hisses at him and moves off.

Josef sits back in his chair looking at the ceiling. "After you told me about Lola buying up all that silver, I decided to try and make it impossible for her to get much more. We couldn't buy up all the silver in the world. We could try to drive the price up far enough out of her range to prevent her from buying a significant amount. It was me, Jason, and Darius. The three of us a hedge fund trader, an investment banker, and a metals speculator. All we had to do was hold the price up long enough for you to put her out of business. She went after the most important things in their lives, their women. She did the same to you for killing her business."

"Josef, she has to be dead. She was in a water bath of silver nitrate and the place blew up like someone dropped a bomb on it. Lola cannot be alive."

"Mick, no offense, but your record for killing really old female vamps is not exactly stellar. I'm beginning to think when they are that old it means you need to take their heads to kill them. Look, let's go with this theory for now. I really hate to say it, but that has got to be it, and I was the one that got Jason and Darius into this mess."

Mick hears Josef trail off and knows he feels responsible for Amelia's and Alicia's deaths. "Josef, it's not your fault. You couldn't have known."

"Yes, but I should have warned them that if that vindictive bitch got loose this is the kind of stuff she would do." _Damn._

"Alright Josef let's go with that track, but how come she hasn't gone after; you know." Mick doesn't even want to say Sarah's name out loud.

Josef is pinching the bridge of his nose. "Because she has no idea. There are few people in the community who know about that besides me and I trust every one of them."

For once Mick is glad that Josef doesn't have too many emotional entanglements. "Is there anyone else, she might go after to get even with you?"

Josef sighs, "No one that's still alive." _Or no one who couldn't kick her ass._

Mick thinks for a minute. "Josef besides the thing we won't mention, _Sarah, _is there anything else that she could do that would really hurt you? Think how Lola's mind works. What can she use against you to get even?"

"There isn't anything for this very reason. In this position if you have things that are that important to you, eventually they get used against you. It's just the way it is. She knows that about me." Josef says.

"Ok, something that's not as important to you as say, Beth is to me. Something that would take a lifetime to replace and something you really like having."

"The only thing that fits that is my money and my business. I don't know how she can get to either without me knowing it, or without some very fancy footwork. I'll make some calls."

Quietly Mick says. "There is something that you have, we all have it. In this day and age, it can't be replaced and can make life a living hell if it's gone."

Josef is very quiet. "She wouldn't. It would guarantee her execution by someone if not me. She would not take my anonymity; if she exposes me, and the rest of us. Vampires far older and far more powerful than I am would hunt her down and kill her. The damage to the community would be beyond repair. It's the only way we've been able to survive in the limited numbers we have. The head of the Vampire Council would execute her and if we are out in the world it would be a very public execution."

"Is she that self-destructive? The last time we met she was draining her own for money. Would she stray that far from our codes?" Mick asks.

Josef shakes his head. The idea is so hard to even imagine. "I don't know. I need to make some phone calls."

"Ok, I'm going after Denton. We need to find him. He could lead us to her."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef sits and stares off into the dark. He holds his cutlass across his lap. _Could she, Would she?_ He turns the cutlass over, feeling the blade. He cuts himself and he smiles, sharp as ever. After what she did the last time the answer keeps coming up yes. She doesn't think any of the rules apply to her anymore. If you're willing to kill your own people in large numbers for nothing more than money, what won't you do? He hopes Mick is wrong about this. It could be another witch-hunt on a scale never seen. He remembers when he came into possession of the cutlass. It was a gift from the lady trying to raise a pirate army. What happened to that woman? Josef sighs and goes to his study to find Beth. "Hey, you can stop now. We know who's behind the three that went after you and killed Amelia and Alicia."

Beth's looks up. "Lola."

Josef is taken aback by this, "How did you figure out who it was? Mick and I didn't even know until we put the pieces together a few minutes ago."

Beth enjoys surprising Josef. "I just put the pieces together myself. I looked for what wasn't there. I started doing missing person searches that were in the last two weeks. Then background checks on those people. After doing one on Jason I realized what kinds of things to look for that are missing when a vampire is involved. I found Alicia's association with a vampire, so then I dug until I found out what he does. Once I knew that it wasn't hard to figure out. What would three vampires, all high-powered money types be working on that would get this kind of response? Add in Mick's involvement and Lola is the only thing that makes sense."

Josef looks impressed. "When you're ready to quit Buzzwire and make some real money, call me."

She laughs, "Thank you Josef. I think that was a compliment."

Beth can see the shift in his attitude. "Beth, please stay here for a bit. I need to have a word with Robert, but I need to talk to you also."

Beth looks at him quizzically, but the tone of his voice worries her. "Sure."

Josef finds Robert going over the household accounts. "Robert, I want you to pack some bags. Take anything that you can't bear to leave behind and go to the Chalet in Iceland. Pack like you're not coming back."

Robert looks at Josef struck him. "What's happened?"

Josef shakes his head. "Nothing, I hope. I'd rather be pleasantly surprised that it was an unnecessary trip than take the chance of losing an old friend. Please also take any of the household staff that are not human and send the girls to Jenny's. Then send the human household staff home to their families."

Robert starts to shake his head. "Josef, I'm not leaving. I've worked for you for over two hundred years. I'm not leaving now. That will leave you, Beth and the security guys."

Josef claps Robert on the back. "I need you to go there and prepare for a large influx of refugees. I have contacts in that part of the world. We decided a long time ago to make sure there are enough of our people in place in the government of Iceland. If we need a refuge that will be it. The human populace is small and very forward thinking. I think we can make a case for asylum based on genetic prejudice. "

Robert looks amazed.

Josef continues. "Robert once you've met the torch and pitchfork crowd, you never forget, and you always prepare for the worst. Once was enough for me. Please do as I say."

Robert nods and goes to pack.

Josef goes back to his study. Beth is looking out the window he watches her for a minute. He realized it is going to kill him and Mick both to leave her behind. She might be able to follow them later if everything goes well. There was no way he is risking her life by taking her with them in the beginning. He wouldn't be able to ensure her safety. That kind of concentration of vamps in one place would not be the place for her_._

"Beth?"

She turns to him. She looks scared. "Josef, what's happening?"

He smiles sadly. "Nothing, I hope. I'm implementing some precautions. I need to talk to you. Please sit down."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick calls Ryder "Hey, you know a vamp named Denton?"

Ryder grunts into the phone. "I hear you tossed him through Josef's window. Good job."

Mick laughed. "Another fan, I see. Ryder, Josef has his cell number. I need to find him in a hurry. Can you do a trace and at least give me places he's been in the last 24 hrs. I know you can only find close to cell towers, but I'll take anything I can get at this point. Hey, I just thought of something else, if he's driving, it's a rental. See if you can find anything out about that. Some of the rental companies are using LoJack systems. That would tell us exactly where the car is at least."

"I'll start on it right away. I'll call you as soon as I get anything."

Mick thanks him and hangs up. Next, he calls Victoria. "Hey, I need you to call in any favor, talk to any snitch, talk to any contact you have. I've got to find Denton as soon as possible. He might lead us to Lola. Can you do that for me?"

"Sure. It will be a pleasure."

"Tell them that Josef will pay a reward for information that pans out. What do you think would get them motivated?"

"I'd say $50,000 would be a nice amount. Are you going to ask Josef about this, or do you just want to do it?"

"Just do it. Josef will be more than happy to pay that amount if it helps us find Lola."

"It's done." And she hangs up.

Mick calls Robert at the house. "I need to know how I can reach that kid that was supposed to take Denton to the hotel the other day."

"I can have him call you back. Josef had him stay over until someone was going back to town. He's staying with the security guys."

"Great, Robert. I need to talk to him right away."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef leans across his desk and looks at her intently. "Beth, I need to ask you some questions about your job. If you were going to run an Internet campaign to disprove something that was true, how would you go about it?"

Beth stares at him for a minute. She automatically knows what he is getting at. "Josef, first off you have to ask yourself what she has to do to prove what she says is true. Increasingly people only believe what they can touch and feel. Digital photography manipulation and internet hoaxes have made it impossible to believe anything out of the ordinary without solid proof. Which means she needs to produce a body. She got to deliver the goods to someone. Who would she send a drained body to or even a vamp body for them to examine? In addition to a drained body she would have to send a clip of it happening, and even then, I'm not sure it would be enough"

Beth closes her eyes trying to think this through. "She would almost have to do it live and in person for it to be believed by regular people. You're always going to have the conspiracy types and the cult types, but that's not a problem. The problem is if she can mainstream the idea or start a panic. I don't see any of TV people touching this except as an obvious hoax, unless she does an actual live demo for them. It would have to start on the net. People fear what they don't understand, but they have to believe it first."

Beth continues talking more to herself than to Josef. "If I thought that strike was coming, I would get ahead of it. Vampires tend to come and go out of popular culture. I would make them the fan boys' and girls' darlings for the moment. I would flood the 'net with everything from homemade music videos containing vamps. Or better yet, hoaxes that look real and every kind of cheesy fan boy site imaginable." She nods as she warms up to the idea. "At least on the 'net she would get lost in the millions of Google hits. She would be one of many goof ball sites. If nothing else, it might give you the time to get to her before she can do an in-person demonstration for some news outlet. How come you're not asking Ryder this stuff?"

"Ryder works with the nuts and bolts, not the content. For that I need someone who puts content out there." Josef smiled. "Beth, if what you say is true, do you think anyone believes any newscasts you do?"

She smiles. "Sure, because I'm usually only asking them to believe murder; they can believe that. It's when you ask them to believe something so far out of the immediate personal experience that they need concrete proof. Hell, I'm not sure you could prove going to the moon anymore. If it hadn't happened in the '60s, even then, there are the nuts that believe it never happened."

"As for the Europeans, and the rest of the world, I have no idea. You'll have a better read on that than I do, or you know someone who does. Also, make some calls to some media types you trust and get a second opinion. This is just my experience. For God's sake, don't gamble an entire race on it."

Josef gets up and walks around his desk. He kisses the top of her head. "Thank you for seeing us as more than monsters. You're right; I need to make some call, but I need a little time to think." He walks across to the windows and stares out into the darkness.

Beth stands up and watches him. He seems so melancholy. It isn't like him. Beth walks over and stands behind him. "Josef it's not too late to stop her. Please pull out of this. You're scaring me. I don't want to lose you and Mick because you need to go into hiding. The two of you mean too much to me."

Josef stays with his back to her. He closes his eyes. Josef hears a soft "Good night." And she is gone.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Comments are always welcome. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Moonlight isn't mine. It's just a place I go to play.**

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Mick's answers his ringing phone. "Hello?"

"Mr. St. John, this is Tyler. Robert said you wanted to talk to me."

"Tyler, this is important. Remember when you were driving Denton to the Sanguine the other day? It took you an awful long time to get back here even if you drove straight there and back. Did you stop anywhere?"

"No, Mr. St. John, I don't want to get in trouble. I don't want Mr. Kostan to be mad at me. I was supposed to take Mr. Denton straight to the hotel. I'm sorry you had to throw him through the window."

Mick laughed. "I'm not. You won't get into trouble if you answer truthfully now. It's important. Did you stop anywhere?"

"Well, at first he told me to drive and drive and drive. He said he wanted to think. I know now he was killing time until he wanted to come back here. Then when he told me to go back to the estate to get the bag he forgot. He had me doing so much I wasn't supposed to at that point, I did it. I wanted him gone."

"But no stops, anywhere right?"

"No, no stops. Just driving all around."

Thanks, and don't worry about getting in trouble."

Mick had hoped that Denton had left some clue during his ride with Tyler. No luck. Mick flips out his phone to call Josef, but it starts ringing. He sees it's Ryder. Hopefully with some help. "Ryder?"

"Hey good idea on the rental with a LoJack. Got his rental, at least. It's parked at the Biltmore downtown. I called and asked for him, but he's not registered. All I know is his car is there."

Mick thinks about the Biltmore, really nice place. He knows that sometimes Josef has special meetings there that need to be on neutral ground. He also stays there a lot during those times.

"Thanks Ryder. You have no idea how welcome that part of the puzzle is." Mick hangs up and calls Josef. "Hey, I may have a lead. Do you have any one on staff at the Biltmore?"

"Of course. With all the business I do in the place, I need to have someone on staff. I need someone I can call if things don't work out the way the other party thinks they should."

Mick swears he can almost see Josef smiling through the phone. "The head of Security, Dirk Richmond and the head of housekeeping Bev Austin are both mine. Security isn't a vamp but he's living with one of us, he's ex-military and very competent. I'm sure he'd be more than willing to help. Bev is one of ours. Do you think that's where she's at?"

"Yes. Ryder tracked Denton's rental; it's parked at the Biltmore. It's sure worth a shot."

Josef smiles thinly, "Mick, where are you?"

"I'm on the other side of town. I'm on my way. If she's there I'll do it right this time. I'll take her head. Josef can you call the security guy. Fax him her picture and ask him if he can try and locate her room and call me with the information?"

"Of course. Mick, some other things you should know. Robert left a little while ago with some of the other household staff. They are going to the chalet in Iceland."

Mick is silent for a minute. "You think it's that serious; that it's going to come to that?"

Josef sighs. "I hope not, but I don't want to take any chances. I'm going to call the council. I'm sure he'll agreed that Robert will start implementing some of preliminary procedures."

Mick wants to close his eyes and try to think, but since he's driving that might not be such a good idea. "We can't take Beth with us, can we?"

Josef sighs, "No, we can't. If things turn out for the best, she can come later, but it would be far too dangerous in the beginning. Although, if there is a full-on witch-hunt, she may be in trouble no matter where she is. I'll have to think about finding a place to hide her away from our problems, and the rest of the world. It better not come to that. She would hate hiding."

"Hopefully, this is the break we need. If I can get to her in time it will be ok. Josef, I'll call you after I check out the Biltmore."

"Be careful. You know how dangerous she is." Josef hangs up.

Josef taps his phone and brings up Victoria. "Mick has more than likely found Lola. He's pretty sure she's at the Biltmore. In cross town traffic I'm too far away to be of any help."

"You want me to back him up?" she asks.

Josef begins to pace his office. "Yes, and hopefully a clean up after that. It's not that I don't think Mick is capable, but she is a great deal older than he is. Who knows what lengths she'll go to at this point to win."

"I can do that but I'm not that close either. I'll get there as quick as possible."

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Josef starts making calls, doing what Beth suggested. He calls several media people that are part of the community and asks them if what Beth had said was correct. It was almost unanimous in agreement. A couple had some additional suggestions to reinforce what she told him, but overall, they agreed.

He then calls Ryder and tells him to get every tech savvy vamp working on a full-out blitz. Not to let it go unless he gives the word or if Ryder doesn't hear from Josef by morning. If it isn't needed, they will keep it in reserve, as a firewall.

He dreads making the last two calls. He calls Richard the head of the vampire council as protocol demands. He'll never understand how that idiot became head of council. If they fail here in Los Angeles the council must be ready. Next, he calls the vampire he suspects is still the real head of the vampire council. "What's wrong?" She demands.

"Why does anything have to be wrong?" He's loath to admit she's right.

"Because you never call unless all hell is breaking loose. It's like pulling teeth to get any information out of you."

He sighs. "In this instance you're unfortunately correct." He explains the problem.

She knows that trying to send backup won't do any good. Everyone is too far away. "You'll call me as soon as that bitch is dead?" She doesn't dare intimate that any other outcome is possible.

"Of course, but if you don't hear from me in the next twenty-four hours, promise me you'll evacuate to Iceland."

She snorts. "Just as soon as I take that bitches head but Josef, I know that's not going to be necessary."

He smiles grimly into the phone. "I'm sure you're right but be ready to get my sisters out of the country." He taps his antique Montblanc on his desk. "There's one more thing. There's a human, her name is Beth Turner. She's a reporter and a close friend of mine. If this thing blows up and she's still alive could you find a place to tuck her in? If they start with the torches and pitchforks, she might be in trouble. Guilt by association and all that." He'd ask for the same from Mick, but he knows if Josef doesn't make it Mick won't either.

Vanessa shakes her head. How in the world did Josef meet up with Beth? Well it's good he's met the women and likes her. It will be easier down the road. If this conversation wasn't so dire, she'd spend the next hour cross examining him. Josef very seldom makes friends with humans. To have him want one safe from this mess is very interesting. "She's in Los Angeles?" She asks already knowing the answer.

"Yes." He doesn't mention the fact she's sleeping in his house. Vanessa can be expected to hold her questions only so long.

"Don't worry. I'll find her and keep her safe, but Josef I know it won't be necessary. Please be careful but kill that bitch."

He tosses the pen down. "I'll call you as soon as it's done." Then he tosses his phone on the desk to wait. He decides he's done all he can until he hears from Mick.

He tells himself he wants to check in on Beth to make sure she's sleeping ok, and she's not having more nightmares.

Josef looks down at Beth and watches her sleep. He's becoming a little disgusted with himself; she is, in love with Mick and Mick's in love with her. Josef shakes his head. He's too old to be going down this road again. He knows better and as he's said over and over to Mick; it never ends well. At least for him.

Josef will be glad when he hears from Mick and this business with Lola is over. Everyone needs to go back to their own lives.

Josef gets a loaded automatic out of his desk and puts it in his pocket. He decides there is one more precaution he needs to take for Beth. He gently picks her up and takes her down the hall. She mumbles something unintelligible in her sleep and nuzzles herself into his shoulder. She wraps her arms around his neck. He holds her a little tighter in response. He touches a spot on the wall and a panel slides open. Josef enters the panic room and lays Beth down on one of the beds. She curls up in her sleep as she starts to get cold. He quickly goes back to get her warm blankets and covers her up. He watches her for a little longer, hoping she will settle back down to a deep sleep. When she does, he takes the gun out of his pocket. He lays the automatic down next to her with the safety on. She must have one last line of defense. Not that he thinks even the silver bullets in the gun will kill Lola, but Beth has gotten lucky before. He needs to give her every edge he can think of.

He looks around the room. He had it installed for the household staff and the girls, so it is large. He turns on a soft light in the corner, so she won't be frightened if she wakes up. He has an electronic key to lock it from the outside. It's soundproof so if anything should happen, hopefully Beth won't wake up. She can get out from the inside, if she does wake up. He's preparing for the worst, as he always tries to do. If Lola gets past Mick, Josef needs to make sure he's done all he can to keep Beth safe. He leans over, brushes a lock of hair out of her eyes and kisses her on the forehead. Then he leaves, locking the door behind him.

Josef makes one more stop for his cutlass and heads back to his study.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick pulls up to the Biltmore. His phone rings. He hopes this is Josef's security guy.

Mick answers "Mick St. John"

"Mr. St. John this is a friend of Josef's. The person you are looking for is in the penthouse. If you need anything after you've met with this person, please don't hesitate to call me."

"Thank you. You've been very helpful. You can be sure if I need any further assistance, I'll be sure to call." Mick hangs up. _The penthouse, why doesn't that not surprise me?_

Mick decides the best course of action is to slip in a side door. He sees a couple of the night people slipping in and out for a smoke and he takes the opportunity to use the door. Once inside he walks down a couple of the back corridors. He sees a white jacket worn by the room service guy and slips it on. Mick smiles the guy must be a gorilla. The jacket is big, even on him. It doesn't cover the tails of his duster, but he should pass a glance. He heads for the service elevator and takes it up to the penthouse. The doors open and Mick inhales trying to see if he can sense Denton or Lola. Taking the two of them on could be tough.

The door to the penthouse is ajar. Mick smells Denton, Lola, and vampire blood. He wonders if he got lucky and they killed each other. He's sure that's too much to hope for. Quietly, he pushes the door open. He has his gun in his left hand and his machete in his right. It feels awkward, but he needs all the weapons he can get with these two. Mick rounds the corner into the main living area, and he sees Denton lying in the middle of the floor. Quickly Mick makes sure no one else is in the suite and goes back to Denton.

Amazingly, he's still alive. Mick crouches down next to him and his eyes flutter open. Denton smiles weakly, "Hey, look it's Josef's errand boy."

Mick smiles down at him grimly. He knows Denton is almost gone. From the smell he's dying of silver poisoning. "Hey, do any window shopping lately?"

Denton tries to laugh. "Man, you sure got some air on that one."

Mick feels bad, but not a lot. "Look, don't talk. I'll see what I can do about making you more comfortable."

Denton grabs Mick's coat. "No, you have to listen to me. I tried to stop her. I did. She's crazy. She's going to kill us all. Tell everyone I did the right thing in the end. She's headed to Josef's. She's going to kill Josef and your girl and then reveal him to the cops and media for what he is. You've got to stop her." Denton falls back to the floor and Mick senses that he's true dead.

Mick starts to panic. He brings up his gun when he senses another vampire and turns ready to fire at Lola but it's Victoria. He lowers his weapon. "You heard?"

She nods. "I'll take care of this mess." She can see he's close to vamping out. "Go. Between you and Josef she doesn't have a chance."

Mick runs for the stairs using his cell as he goes. He tries to call Beth, but there is no answer and then he tries Josef, same thing, no answer. He calls Josef's on-site security chief at the house and no answer there as well. Mick keeps moving as fast as he can. He takes the stairs at an alarming rate. Jumping whole flights. When he gets to the bottom, he calls Dirk. He tells him he has a dead vamp in the penthouse. He needs to check with Victoria to see if she needs any help getting the body out of the hotel.

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Josef senses her long before he sees her. He looks at the door and in the blink of an eye, there she is. They watch each other and slowly she enters the room. "Well, well, why do I have the feeling you are waiting for me? I'm guessing you knew St. John was no match for me, and I would kill him."

Josef shakes his head and smiles tightly. "You're bluffing. If Mick were dead, you would drag his lifeless carcass in here to show me yourself. You never could pass up a chance to gloat. No, whatever has happened to him, I'm guessing he's not dead."

Josef's cell phone is lying on his desk. It starts to ring. Josef looks down and smiles. "Ah, look, there he is now." Josef reaches over and switches the cell phone off.

Lola laughs softly. "Josef, you know me so well."

"I thought I did, but that was before you started killing our own for money."

Lola looks at Josef with a mock pout. "Yes, I knew you were unhappy when you sent St. John to kill me."

"Speaking of which, how did you manage to keep from going up with your lab?"

Lola laughs. "When you're as old as I am, you're invincible. Nothing can kill me."

Josef narrows his eyes and smiles thinly. _We'll see about that._ Josef watches her as they talk; she wanders the room. He stands and faces her as she comes near him.

She smiles at him. "There was a time when you could not resist me. We could be together again. We could do so much. We could have so much power."

Josef shakes his head. "I have few illusions about myself and I know compared to say, Mick, I have few if any morals. But even I have limits, places I won't go, lines I won't cross."

"You've become weak from being around St. John and his human."

Lola sees a glint in Josef's eye when she mentions Beth. Josef tries to mask it with a smirk on his face, but it was too late. She knows him, as well as he knows her. Lola laughs. "She is here somewhere, isn't she? In fact, I can smell her on you. Josef, what have you done with Mick's human or is she one of those lines you won't cross?" She laughs at him. "I thought she was hidden away somewhere that I couldn't find her but she's here with you. Oh, this is wonderful. Once you're dead I will find her and wait for St. John then I will kill them both together. Oh, better yet, I must find her so she can watch me kill you."

Lola starts to wander towards the door "Oh, Beth" She calls. Lola turns back to Josef with a smile, "Her name is Beth isn't it?" Josef watches her. Lola turns back towards the door. Before she can get there, she is met by a vamped-out Josef leaning against the doorframe. He smiles a wicked smile through his fangs. "We should let Beth rest, while you and I dance this dance."

Lola backs up a step, she smiles a deadly smile at Josef and matches him fang and nail. The two of them face one another and she reaches up as to caress his face, and for a moment it's like it was long ago. He's lost for an instant and she lashes her long nails across his left shoulder, cutting into the tendon and muscle. Josef roars at her in pain and grabs at his shoulder. He looks at the slashes, and they aren't healing. He looks across at Lola as she backs away from him.

She smiles at him. "I didn't mention my new little drug. In the course of our research for Black Crystal, we found an interesting compound. When it's ingested by a vampire it allows their body to leach silver into the nails and hair. Conveniently enough it doesn't seem to harm the vampire. I haven't gotten to try it in practical terms until now. How does it feel? Burn a little? Feel dizzy at all?"

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Beth rolls over in her sleep and something hard slides under her shoulder. She feels for it and jumps when she feels the cold steel of the gun barrel. She sits up on the bed looking around her. She sees the soft light in the corner. With the blankets wrapped around her and the gun in her hand, she shuffles over and turns up the light.

The room is large. It has no windows and the walls look to be steel or concrete or something. She realizes she must be in a panic room. Josef must have moved her in the night. _What is he so afraid of that he moves her and leaves her a gun?_ Cautiously, she explores her surroundings and sees that she is alone. She finds the door and finds a touch switch to the side to open it. Beth drops the blankets. She takes a deep breath and touches the switch and the door opens.

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Mick is driving as fast as he can, but in LA traffic, that's hit or miss even at night. He takes every shortcut he can think of to get to Josef's as fast as he can. He keeps calling both Josef and Beth and gets no answer. He's so afraid for them both. He knows that Josef is old and has lots of power. Mick has been on the receiving end of that strength, but Lola is psychotic and five hundred years old. If she gets past Josef, he doesn't even want to think of what Lola can do to Beth.

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Lola and Josef continue to circle each other. Josef can feel his body very slowly, to slowly starting to heal some of the deeper wounds. Lola smiles like a cat with a mouse in her sights. She's very confident that she can kill him without much problem. Josef allows her to back him up next to his desk. With his right hand he grabs for his cutlass. He needs the extra length it gives him to make it harder for her to get close enough to claw him again. He brings it up and back down, slashing Lola across her side as she tries to sidestep him. As she jumps away from him, she changes direction and spins. She manages to get a scrape of his side with those claws again.

Lola lets out a roar and Josef smiles grimly as he clutches his left side. "You think I've forgotten how to use this? Not a chance."

Lola smiles at him. "The difference, Josef, is that I will heal; you will not."

Josef takes a deep breath smiles and calms himself. "We shall see." _Not if I can get your head._

The fight continues in earnest, each trying to get in the killing blow. His strength is starting to falter. He must end this quickly. Josef knows he needs to stay out of reach of those claws. It will only take one more slash and it will be over.

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Beth hears the roar from the top of the stairs. She's heard that sound before. It's a vampire in pain, but which vampire? If Josef put her in the panic room it can be for only reason, he was afraid Lola would get into the house. If that's happened then she must have killed Mick, her Mick. Beth clenches her hand around the automatic and takes the safety off. She will avenge Mick, as he would do for her.

Slowly she descends the stairway to Josef's study. She hears them as she walks down the hallway. When she gets to the door, she sees Lola and Josef. Josef looks over Lola's shoulder and sees Beth. Beth raises the gun. She aims and starts to empty the gun into Lola.

Josef watches in slow motion as the first bullet enters Lola at the upper shoulder. It causes her to give a small stagger. Josef takes this opportunity to bring up the cutlass and bring it across in one swift motion. The next three bullets hit Lola across the back. He puts every ounce of strength he has left into the arc the blade is making toward Lola's neck. Beth keeps squeezing the trigger. Josef's blade hits home and comes across her neck one swift cut, removing dear Lola from her head. As she falls, Josef feels a tug as Beth's last two bullets hit him in the right shoulder. He hears the gun in Beth's hand make the hollow clicking of an empty gun, and then it hits the floor with a thud. He smiles at her and steps over Lola's body. He takes a few more hesitant steps towards Beth. He notices her eyes are a beautiful shade of blue as he falls to his knees. "I love a woman who can shoot."

Beth runs to him and sinks to her knees next to him. "Oh, God, oh, God, Josef. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He smiles at her weakly. _At least she and Mick are alive_. He reaches to her and brushes the tears from her cheek. "Please don't cry. God, I love you." He falls the rest of the way to the floor.

Beth looks down at him and knows instinctively what she needs to do. Once again, she prepares to open a vein for a friend. She puts her arm in front of his face and he shakes his head and he close his eyes. She can sense that he is preparing to die.

_God, and he teased Mick for snacking on her. This feeling of being too afraid to save yourself at the cost of someone else, this is what Mick felt when he was in the desert. This is what he was afraid of, that he couldn't stop himself. Well, he's not Mick, he may not stop, he doesn't love her like Mick does_.

He hears another voice, _keep telling yourself that_. The silver is making him delusional._ Yea, right, that's why you haven't sunk your fangs into this delectable little blond already. _

Beth sees that he's going to be even more stubborn than Mick was. She rolls Josef over on his side. He lets out a moan from the pain, but it can't be helped. Beth takes her t-shirt off and lies down so she is facing him; she snuggles up as close as she can to him. She smiles up at him through the tears; she lowers her head and moves her hair away from her neck. He watches her and closes his eyes. "Beth, no." He smells the blood under the surface of her skin. He hears the pounding of her heart in his ears. He opens his eyes and looks at her beautiful neck and shoulder, _all that milky skin_. He sees the pulse rising and falling in her neck. She's so close to him, and he feels her warm breath on his chest as she offers up her neck to him. "God, no."

Very soothingly, very softly she tells him. "Yes, Josef. It will be ok. You can stop when it's time. You won't hurt me. I trust you. I won't lose you both."

Josef can't help himself, instinct kicks in. He leans in and sinks his fangs into her neck. He can taste the salt of her tears as it mixes with the sweetness of her blood. He moans at the taste of her. Josef wonders why he hasn't tasted anything quite like the sweetness of her before.

She lies perfectly still. She feels the pumping of her blood into his mouth. She resists any feelings of panic. She just relaxes. She raises her hand and runs her fingers up the back of his neck and into his hair. She caresses his cheek, touching him here and there. Letting him feel that she is with him. She takes his hand with her free hand and presses it between her breasts. He can feel her heartbeat with the palm of his hand. Soon she starts to feel faint from the loss. She knows he needs to stop very soon. Her hands drop away from him, and he senses the loss of her touch. He senses her heartbeat, stops drinking, and pulls his fangs out. He hopes he didn't wait too long. He thinks it will kill him if she dies. He starts to lick the wounds to close them up so the bleeding will stop.

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**Comments are always welcome. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Moonlight doesn't belong to me. It's just a place I go to play. **

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Mick clears the gate and the car comes to a sliding stop in front of the house. As soon as he enters the house, he smells blood emanating from Josef's study. He flies through the door and the first thing he sees are Josef and Beth laying face to face. Josef is licking the wounds on Beth's neck to seal them and stop the blood flow. Mick listens for her heartbeat and hears it still pumping blood through her body. It's not as strong as he would like, but considering she donated, it's not bad. Mick takes a whiff of the air and sees what she did; what she did to save Josef.

Josef rolls over on his back, still too weak to move much. He took enough from her to keep himself from dying, but he didn't dare take much more. He sees Mick's face looming in the distance. Mick picks Beth up, lays her on the couch and puts a blanket over her. He grabs for his phone and calls Dr. Stanton. He explains the emergency and growls into the phone for him to get to Josef's fast.

Mick makes one more call to Victoria, "I'm at Josef's and I've got at least one body. You'll be glad to hear it's Lola, but I suspect there are a few more."

Victoria snorts. "I just finished with Denton. We're on our way."

Mick goes over to Josef's small fridge in the corner and pulls out a bottle. Beth must have panicked and forgotten it was even in here. Her only genuine experience with hurt vampires is letting them feed from her. He pours Josef a glass. He sits Josef up and pours some of the liquid down his throat. Josef gratefully gulps it down. He sees that Josef needs a second glass and gives him that one also. Josef manages to croak out to Mick. "Silver bullets in my shoulder." Mick nods.

He checks on Beth, and then goes out to the car to get a pair of needle nose pliers. He finds the entry holes in Josef's shoulder, "This is going to hurt." Josef closes his eyes and nods for Mick to continue and Mick manages to get the bullets out. He watches as Josef's eyes start to clear and he finally starts to heal.

Mick goes over to check on Beth again. He hears the doctor pull up outside. Stanton has a cooler with several packets of O negative. He checks on Beth and sets up a drip of O negative into her arm. He turns to Mick and Josef. "After I saw her the last time, I thought I would stock up on some O negative. I figured if she was going to hang out with you two, she might need it. I'm glad I did. I take it she donated to keep one of you alive." Josef is still sitting on the floor drinking from the bottle of blood on his own now. He nods. "Me."

Stanton sees Lola's legs sticking out from behind his desk. "I'm guessing I don't have to worry about whoever is back there."

Josef snorts. "I hope to God not."

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Josef sits in his office staring out at the night. He thinks about how close he came to the end of it. Crazy human. He hates to think of what would have happened if Beth hadn't been there to force him to take her blood. He remembers what he said in what he thought were the last minutes of his life and telling Beth he loves her. Hopefully, she's chalked it up to silver poisoning. It wouldn't do any of them any good for her to know the truth. With all the craziness that was happening in the moment, it probably didn't even register. She was too busy worrying that she'd killed him.

Then there was Lola, who she used to be and how much he cared for her before she went over the edge into madness. When it was all said and done, she killed two humans, almost three, and fifteen vampires. His security people, including Charlie are dead, even young Tyler who was afraid to drive Denton to the hotel. What a waste. It makes him sick to think about it.

It's only been a day since Beth saved his life, but of course he's good as new. He calls Mick "How's she doing?"

"Beth wants to see you." Mick says. "You need to come over and see for yourself."

Josef hesitates. "Maybe later."

Mick smiles. "You aren't avoiding her, are you?"

Josef growls at him and hangs up the phone.

On his way home that morning, Josef decides he can't wait any longer. He needs to see Beth, and make sure for himself that she is fine. Hopefully, she will be asleep when he gets there since it's still early morning.

Josef calls Mick from the car and Mick tells him "I'm still up. Come on over." Mick goes upstairs and wakes Beth. "Hey, you asked me to call you if Josef was coming over."

Beth sits up and rubs the sleep from her eyes. "Thanks. I'd like to talk to him for a little bit."

Mick nods and smiles at her. "I'll send him up when he gets here. I think Josef needs to make sure you're fine after what happened. You make vampires concerned about you when you save our lives. It freaks us out a little."

Beth smiles and watches Mick go back downstairs. She goes back over in her mind the last few minutes in Josef's study and the fear that she had killed him. She knows that Lola had done a great deal of damage to Josef with her silver nails. It still felt like Beth was the one that had almost killed him when she shot him. He must have had a terrible amount of poison in his system. She wonders if he was delusional from all that silver in his system and if that was why he said he loved her. She decides that must be it, and not to mention it. He probably doesn't even remember saying it.

Josef clicks the door with his electronic key, and it opens. Mick is on the other side. Josef tosses him the key. "It's time you kept this."

Mick looks startled. "No way. Your being able to get in and help Beth is too important for you to not have a key. What would have happened if you couldn't get in and help her when this all started? No, please keep it for emergencies if nothing else."

Josef nods and puts it back in his pocket. "How is she doing?"

Mick smiles. "You're supposed to go see her, no matter when you showed up. I woke her when you called." Mick smiles at him "Go on."

Josef walks up the stairs to Mick's spare bedroom. He taps on the closed door and hears Beth say, "Come in, Josef."

He opens the door and sees her sitting up in bed, her eyes a little puffy from not being awake long. It occurs to him again that she's so incredibly beautiful. "How are you?"

She smiles at him. "I'm fine. Josef, we got her. The miserable witch is dead. You and me, we got her."

He smiles at her. "We did, at that, and everybody's safe because you're one hell of a shot."

She snorts at him. "Yea, except for the two that Mick had to dig out of your shoulder."

He waves his hand dismissively. "Flesh wound. No big deal. I'm more thankful for that little blond blood bank that kept me alive, until Mick could pour some blood down my throat."

She laughs. "Yea, that's me, blood bank to my wounded vamps."

He sits on the side of the bed and takes her hands in his. "Beth. thank you. for everything. Without your help." He's looking down at her hands.

"Hey now. none of that. You're not going all softy on me, are you? You stop that or I'm going to cry."

He looks at her and brushes a tear from her cheek "Please don't cry." and suddenly they are both remembering the last time he said those words and all that followed. For a second time stands still. Josef clears his throat and the spell is broken.

He looks at her a little sadly, she thinks, and kisser her hand. "No, no more softy. I'm glad your all right and I didn't."

"You didn't, and I knew you wouldn't. I trust you." She looks at him. "You and Mick, mean too much to me to lose either of you."

Josef shakes his head trying to clear her out of it. "I'm going on a trip. I'll be gone for a while. You and Mick be happy. I'll see you when I get back". He leans towards her and kisses her on the cheek. Be safe and happy." He stands up smiles down at her and leaves.

Josef goes downstairs to the kitchen where Mick is. He braces his hands on the kitchen table and puts his head down shaking it back and forth. "Man, you've got to watch out for her. She's too trusting, I might have, I could have." He trails off.

Mick watches his friend having the same struggle with what she did for him. "Pretty tough to take when she does something like that. I know."

Josef gives his head a good shake. He looks up at Mick. "I'm leaving town for a while. I need a change of scenery. I told Robert to stop the preparations. I told him all was well but to stay put, as I would bring the girls along and join him and the staff there. He puts out his hand to Mick. "You take care of yourself and Beth. I'll call you when I get back."

Mick watches Josef leave and suddenly he's glad he met Beth first.

The End, or is it?

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**Comments are always welcome. I'll try to get the next installment up by next weekend.**


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